- : 1 
m 




CJass PTa3> S5 
B(M)kifl4l— 






PRESENTED BY 



AMATONDA. 



3 Cale, 



FROM THE GERMAN OF 



ANTON WALL 






LONDON : 

PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, 
ORME, AND BROWN, 

PATERNOSTER-ROW. 



1811. 






Gift 

W. h. Shoemaker 
f S '06 



Printed by Turner and Harwood, 
St. John's Square, London. 



AD VERTISEMENT 



BY THE TRANSLATOR. 



Anton Wall, like Veit Weber and 
Jean Paul, is a literary nom de guerre. 
It has been assumed by one of the least 
voluminous, but most elegant romance 
writers in Germany, and has derived 
celebrity and popularity from two or 
three works of fiction, all of very small 
extent. These little books have been 
published at periods very remote from 
a9 



each other, a circumstance not less 
singula, than their style and character; 
for it is a very strange thing in Ger- 
many to find a distinguished, who is 
not also a voluminous writer. The 
author himself, who, if still living, 
must be advanced in years, is not less 
remarkable than his works. The 
greater part of his life has been spent, 
in a state of utter seclusion, and in 
a way so capricious and whimsical, 
as to bring upon him an imputation' of 
insanity from the world at large, which, 
when its ordinary customs are despised 
and disregarded, is unwilling to consi- 
der the exercise, even of rare intellec- 
tual powers, as the certain proof of a 
sound mind. 



In the summer of the year 1802, I 
passed through the town of Altenburg, 
in the course of a tour through the 
Electorate of Saxony ; and having made 
enquiries of my intelligent landlord 
concerning the remarkable people of 
his place, was instantly informed of 
Anton Wall, and urged to call upon 
him ; for, in Germany, artists, scho- 
lars, and men of letters, consider a 
visit even from strangers, without any 
introduction, as an homage to their 
talents, not an intrusion on their re- 
tirement. " Anton Wall, for we al- 
ways call him so/' continued my land- 
lord, " though his real name is Heine. 
will be very glad to see you, and you 
are sure to find him at home ; he has 



VI 

not been out of bed these six weeks.* 5 
On beginning to express some pity at 
this intelligence, I was soon interrupted 
by a laugh. " He is as healthy as you 
are, but chooses to spend all his time 
in bed. He sometimes keeps his room 
for months, perhaps years, rising only 
to have a change of linen ! " On mak- 
ing further enquiries, I understood that 
he passed his days, as far as was known, 
with few or no books, so that his time 
was seemingly dreamt away. He lived 
frugally, not penuriously, and was be- 
lieved to possess property sufficient for 
his slender wants. Other particulars 
were added, which it is less incumbent 
on me to notice, than that, while his 
oddities exposed him to something like 



ridicule, he seemed to be universally 
beloved. A kinder creature, it was 
said, never existed. He loved every 
one, but especially children, of whom 
he was the general favourite ; and when 
he occasionally left his room, he was 
fond of collecting young people toge- 
ther, and treating them with a dance, 
or other unexpensive frolic. 

Having received this previous infor- 
mation, I was conducted to the apart- 
ments of Anton Wall, which consisted 
of the attic story of a large house. On 
knocking at the chamber door, I was 
desired to come in, by a faint voice at 
a distance ; and on entering a spacious 
room, perceived a ruddy, healthyly- 
looki ng, elderly man lying in a bed at 



the further end of it. He instantly sup- 
ported himself on one arm, pulled off 
his white night cap, and begged me to 
come forward, with a courteousness and 
good humour which at once removed 
all thoughts of sickness. A pleasing 
impression was instantly produced on 
my mind, by a general air of neatness 
in all I saw. The apartment was white- 
washed, the furniture very plain, but 
neat, and set in great order, and the 
linen, bed clothes, &c, remarkably 
clean. I introduced myself to Mr, 
Heine by a reference to his works, of 
which he heard, I perceived, with great 
pleasure, but without manifesting a 
greater avidity of praise than they may 
be allowed to feel, who receive scarcely 



IX 

any other reward for their labours, 
" Which of my little books do you like 
best?" said he. "Amatonda." "Per- 
haps you are right. Do you know 
whom I meant to laugh at in the 
poet Selim? It is Jean Paul. " I ob- 
served, that Jean Paul and Klopstock 
were the only two German writers 
whom I was afraid to read, from their 
obscurity. "And yet," said Anton 
Wall, ,s they are admired for their ob- 
scurity ; and so was Selim." A long 
conversation followed, which lasted 
more than two hours, in which my 
author displayed a naivete, good hu- 
mour, and gaiety which corresponded 
with the tone of his works, and left an 
impression on my mind highly advan- 
a 5 



tageous both to his taste, his penetra- 
tion, and his good nature. The Ger- 
man critics and reviewers were not for- 
gotten. Anton Wall professed to be 
ignorant of the judgments passed on 
himself, and expressed himself flatter- 
ed by the singular good fortune he 
enjoyed in receiving praise from the 
most fastidious of all the German cri- 
tics, the Schlegels. These brothers had, 
at that period, rendered themselves 
formidable to the great body of popular 
German writers, by the severity of 
their criticisms. They had raised, what 
was invidiously called, a new school 
of taste, which probably still survives, 
though the leaders have been since 
dispersed. August Wilhelm Schlegel^ 



the elder brother, and the translator of 
Shakespear, attached himself to the 
celebrated Madame de Stael, and is 
said, in the late German papers, to 
have embarked for America with that 
lady, in the capacity of tutor to her 
son. Frederic Schlegel is the reputed 
author of the last admirable Declara- 
tion of War against France, by Austria, 
and has had the honour, in common 
with Gentz^ of being proscribed by the 
French government. In the fourth 
number of the Athenceum, published 
by the Schlegels, the following short 
review is given of Amatonda. It may 
supply the place of remarks by the 
translator. 

" It sounds, itself, like a tale of ro- 



Xil 

mance, that Anton Wall, who has 
long been lost to us, has appeared 
again, and has again delighted us with 
a tale, a Persian one too : its title is 
Amalonda. It deserves to be called a 
bagatelle, and that is no trifle, for it 
is elegant, roguish, and sports with 
French levity and grace. Some critics 
may want a greater quantity of allegory 
and moral ; while others, who think 
that a fairy tale should sparkle, like a 
lustre, with all the colours of the 
prism, may think it not sufficiently 
oriental and wonderful. The reader is 
disappointed in the expectation that 
the magician will succeed in taking in 
all the four brothers ; but, in return, 
has the satisfaction to find that one of 



Xlll 

them, at least, out- wits the conjuror. 
One of the sons of the merchant seems 
at last to be forgotten. The Sultana 
Biribi, with her eyes that sparkle like 
brilliants, departs from the oriental 
costume, in the great purity of her love 
for Solmar. From the. first familiarity 
of the lovers, we expect a conclusion 
more in character. It is to be wished 
for every poet, that he may be thrice 
embraced by the fairy Amatonda ; and 
certainly Anton Wall, who has set up 
the delightful custom, ought not to be 
excluded from the benefit of it." 

It may be, however, right to add, 
that this fairy tale differs from all other 
fairy tales, both in its moral tendency, 
and in the economy of its structure. 



XIV 

Contrary to the usual practice, the" 
author has recourse to as little, not as 
much marvellous machinery as possi- 
ble ; and A matonda herself, who gives 
a name to the piece, makes her appear* 
ance only to " point a moral," as sim- 
ple as it is momentous, and to impart 
keeping and colouring to a picture of 
moral excellence and domestic felicity, 
we are not accustomed to seek among 
imaginary beings in the tropical regi- 
ons of romance. It is an Oriental tale> 
but the usual stately style of such fic- 
tions is resorted to only to heighten, 
by contrast, the colloquial familiarity, 
and playful, satirical humour which 
characterise the author's manner. The 
only works which at all resemble it, 



XV 

are, Count Hamilton's Fairy Tales, 
and the Legendary Tales of Musaeus. 
Hamilton, however, has more wit than 
humour; and, though a Scotchman 
by birth, is, in his writings, a volatile 
Parisian voluptuary. Musaeus's ex- 
quisite legends are original only in the 
style and humour. The stones are fa- 
miliar to the German nursery, 



xvu 



TO A LADY. 



I am still alive, my fair friend; or 
rather, I am alive once more, but for 
how long I cannot tell ; therefore, to 
give some token of existence, I send 
you a Persian tale. It is one of the 
10,000 my great-aunt inherited from 
my uncle, and which I purchased of 
her for 100,000 pearls. I gave her my 
translation to peruse, and she said that 
grandmothers might safely read it, and 
even young married ladies also, but on 
no account innocent girls ; because the 
word Love, she says, is to be found in 
it, and innocent girls never, of their 



XVI11 

own accord, think of love. Now I 
confess that I have myself observed, 
there is something in this same Jove, 
quite contrary to the nature of inno- 
cent girls ; because, whenever they do 
fall in love, they never fail to sigh 
most pitifully. I entreat you, there- 
fore, conceal this tale most carefully 
from them all. 

You will be pleased, also, to hide 
this Dedication from your husband ; 
for, Who knows ? he might imagine, 
that when I made my translation, I 
now and then thought of you. 

Have you read Bathmendi ? Flo- 
rian's uncle had very different sources 
from myself. 

I kiss your hand, and — long live 
Amatonda ! 



XIX 



TO THE READER, 



I had an uncle, who was fall of sense 
and whims ; but his whims -were par- 
doned for the sake of his sense, and 
his sense for the sake of his whims. 
Among these whims were two, to 
which all others were subordinate ; 
these were, his love of pearls and tales. 
One morning he continued standing 
for a whole hour in a brown study at 
the window, and answered the saluta- 
tions of no one. At length, laying the 
end of the fore finger of his right hand 
on the spot where the forehead ends 



and the nose begins, he muttered be- 
tween his teeth, "• European pearls 
have a great deal too little water, and 
European tales a great deal too" much." 
He shut the window, sold his three 
estates, and embarked. He rambled 
over Persia, Arabia, and the Indies, 
and made a collection of pearls and 
tales ! 

After he had spent one and twenty 
years in furnishing his cabinet, he re- 
turned back to Europe. He brought 
with him 100,000 select pearls, and 
10,000 select tales. He purchased 
himself a handsome garden in the sub- 
urbs, and lived a solitary life in the 
midst of his treasures, appearing at 
none of the plc-nics or court balls. 



XXI 

After he had spent ten years in look- 
ing over his pearls, and reading over 
his tales, he fell sick, made his will, 
and died. He bequeathed me his 
pearls, because I was young ; and my 
great-aunt his tales, because she was 
old. We both of us uttered profound 
sighs at the death of the good man, but 
my great-aunt could not cry, nor my- 
self neither. 

When we came to take possession of 
our legacies, my great-aunt looked 
upon my casket, which contained the 
100,000 select pearls, and fetched a 
deep sigh ; while I cast my eyes upon 
my great-aunt's cupboard, with the 
10,000 select tales, and sighed also. 
On this, my great-aunt looked full in 



XXtl 

my face, and I also looked in her's. 
On a sudden we stretched out our 
hands towards each other, and then, 
without exchanging a single word, 1 
gave my great-aunt the 100,000 pearls, 
and she gave me the 10,000 tales. 
She was willing also to give me 100,000 
kisses into the bargain, but I am con- 
fident that I took only five and an half 
of them. On this, we both fell a cry- 
ing for the dear deceased. I wept al- 
most a whole day, and my great-aunt 
wept several months ! 

I am thus in possession of 10,000 
Eastern tales, and, at the same time, 
of a very good heart. But he who has 
the latter, cannot possibly keep the 
former to himself. I purpose to im- 



part them all, one by one, to those of 
my female friends who may wish to 
hear them from me ; and I here give, 
as a specimen, the first I opened. I 
am willing to let this specimen pass for 
nothing ; but I expect a reward for the 
remainder. If my aforesaid female 
friends will grant me what I declined 
accepting from my great-aunt, I shall 
be quite contented. The modern phi- 
losophers profess disinterested bene- 
volence ; while the ancients never 
wrought a good action without a re- 
ward. I still belong to the old school ; 
and turn now to my tale. 



AMATONDA. 



Once upon a time there reigned in 
Persia a mighty Shah, and under this 
Shah there lived at Basra a wealthy 
merchant. Who this Shah was, is of 
no importance to our tale, but the 
merchant was called Bator ; and his 
fame was spread throughout the whole 
empire, and his notes were accepted, 
even for millions, at the very furthest 
corner of the Indies. His palace was 
the seat of affluence and refined taste. 
He was known throughout Asia by the 
title of the magnificent. The poets 

B 



of the province, moreover, called him 
the guardian-angel of the sciences, and 
kissed the hem of his garment ; and 
the emirs of the province saluted him 
with the greeting "friend of my soul;" 
for Bator distributed gold to the poets, 
and accepted the bills of the emirs, and 
he invited them all to feasts and enter- 
tainments. 

Now, while Bator was regaling the 
heralds of his virtues and the friends of 
his soul, his agents were carrying on 
his~ business for him. Some persons, 
indeed, insinuated to him that it was 
their own business, not his, they were 
carrying on, but he w r as pleased that 
they should employ their leisure hours 
to a good account for themselves : be- 
sides, their day-books and their ledgers 
were most methodically kept : there 
was not a blot or an erasure in any one 
ef them 



3 

A great merchant ought to make 
great enterprises ; for who else should 
make them, and how else are great 
merchants themselves made ? It was 
the agents of Bator who projected these 
enterprises, and Bator himself who 
signed his approbation of them over his 
morning-chocolate. But it was not 
their fault that homeward-bound ves- 
sels were wrecked in storms, and ca- 
ravans plundered by robbers] By a 
succession of such unexpected inci- 
dents, the account books of Bator were 
filled with the list of his losses, and 
his iron chests were emptied of their 
treasures. And the tact was beyond a 
doubt, since the cash keepers and the 
account keepers told the same story. 

The best resource a man has who is 

in the way of bad luck, is to risque all 

he has, blindly at a venture ; for so, he 

may not only recover all he has lost. 

b 2 



but become richer than before. This, at 
least, was the proposal made to Bator 
by his agents, but an obdurate ill for- 
tune baffled all their good designs. 
One rash enterprise failed after another ; 
till at last, on one fine morning of 
spring, while Bator was reposing on 
his couch while one of the poets of 
Persia was reading to him aloud a di- 
dactic poem, dedicated to himself, on 
the Triumphs of Commerce, the whole 
body of his agents entered his apart- 
ment, to inform him that his iron 
chests were exhausted, and that he 
had not wherewith to answer a quarter 
of the pressing demands which were 
made upon him. 

It is a well ascertained fact, that the 
poets of Persia never torment a poor 
man with reading their verses to him ; 
and that the emirs of Persia never kiss 
a ruined man on both cheeks, or style 



him friend of my soul. Bator saw 
himself on a sudden, not merely de- 
serted, but even shunned. He im- 
plored his agents, as the last act of 
kindness to. him, to distribute the re- 
mains of his fortune among his cre- 
ditors ; and these agents discharged 
their task so faithfully, that, having 
paid every man his demand in full, 
they immediately formed establish- 
ments for themselves, meaning to take 
a warning by the misfortunes of their 
master, and resolving to cany on their 
own business with their own eyes ! 

A few jewels which belonged to the 
wife of Bator, were all he could save 
of his property. These he secured ; 
and then taking her and his four young 
children by the hand, he stole out of 
Basra by moon-light, no one observing 
him, and repaired to a remote corner 
of the province of Tauris. Here he 



purchased a small piece of ground, the 
produce of which just sufficed for the 
scanty maintenance of his family. 

He had resolved to attend, himself, 
to the management of his petty con- 
cerns ; and for several weeks, and even 
months, was indefatigable in his new 
and laborious occupations ; but, from 
time to time, a sort of home-sickness 
fell upon him, which rendered him 
unfit for business of every kind. His 
slaves from that time worked as much 
as they pleased, and his fields and 
flocks thrived as well as they could. 

Thus a number of tedious years 
elapsed, till decease robbed him of his 
wife. He loved her tenderly, and she 
merited his love. She never reproach- 
ed him on account of his misfortunes, 
and the resignation with which she en- 
dured them alleviated his despair. He 
now found himself utterly abandoned, 



and his afflictions overwhelmed him. 
He took to his bed, felt the approach 
of his last hour, and summoned his 
four sons to appear before him. 

" My dear sons," said he, " my 
last hour is come. Draw near to me, 
and receive the benediction of a father. 
You have all shewn me the affection 
of children in my misfortunes ; may 
you be rewarded for it by greater hap- 
piness than I ever enjoyed, and may 
your happiness be more lasting than 
mine. When I am dead, inter me hy 
the side of your mother, and then 
break open the letter which I here give 
to Solmar." — Bator would have con- 
tinued, but his breath failed him, and 
he gave up the ghost. The four bro- 
thers wept bitterly over their deceased 
father ; they laid him by the side of 
their mother ; and, having performed 
the rites of burial as decently as their 



poverty permitted, the letter was open- 
ed by the eldest of them, and read 
aloud to his brothers. 

" My dear children," read Solmar. 
" in your infancy I was Bator the 
Magnificent, the rich merchant of 
Basra. Misfortunes burst upon me, 
and I took refuge in the asylum where 
I have since resided. Here I was able 
to provide a bare subsistence for you 
with labour and with anxiety, for I 
loved you all with equal fondness, and 
I looked forward with dread to the 
time when you would be left to share 
between you the property which had 
scarcely sufficed for the nourishment 
of one family. At length I was re- 
lieved from my apprehensions. A 
source of bounty was opened to you, 
of which I was not permitted to share, 
and which 1 was not allowed to make 
known to you till my decease. Be 



consoled, therefore, for my loss, and 
hearken attentively to what I am per- 
mitted to relate to you. 

" I had once a sister, whom in my 
infancy I loved affectionately, but dis- 
sentions arose between us, and for 
more than thirty years we have been 
separated ; hence you never saw or 
heard of her. She lately died, and at 
her decease she left you a valuable 
legacy, deposited in the hands of her 
confidential friend, the magician Al- 
gol, to be distributed among you after 
my death. 

" Algol the magician is a very kind 
and courteous man, and has the repu- 
tation of being a great philanthropist. 
No one can charge him with having 
done him an injustice ; and he offers 
his good counsels to every one who is 
willing to follow his advice, and sense 
to understand it. My sister and I he- 
B 5 



10 

came acquainted with him many years 
ago, through the introduction of a der- 
vise, and for a long time I kept up my 
connection with him. I owe it, in 
fact, to his instructions, that I be- 
came at Basra the idol of all the poets, 
and the bosom-friend of all the emirs, 
and that my house became the seat of 
good taste, hospitality, and pleasure. 
It is true, that when my 'misfortunes 
arose, he abandoned me as well as the 
poets and emirs, but he accuses me of 
not having comprehended his secret 
advice ; for secret I was bound to keep 
it from all men, even from you, my 
sons ; and it is his rule never again to 
listen to those who have already mis- 
understood him. 

" The magician dwells at the dis- 
tance of a three day's journey from 
hence, in the midst of the mountain- 
forests to the east of us, on a high hill, 



11 

the sides of which are clothed with 
cedars, and on the bare summit of 
which is an observatory. The paper 
that I inclose points out the road 
through the forest, which will conduct 
you to a spot where you will find the 
path obstructed by a vast block of 
black marble. There you will meet 
with a milk-white doe, which will ap- 
pear, and lead you through the laby- 
rinth, on your striking the black mar- 
ble, and pronouncing aloud the name 
of Algol. 

" Proceed without delay, my sons, 
on this journey. Omit no expression 
of reverence towards the magician, 
from whose hands you will receive the 
legacy reserved for you : use it with 
temperance and prudence, and con- 
tinue to maintain brotherly concord 
among you. So may ye enjoy unin- 
terrupted felicity to the end of your 



12 

days ; so may those days be many ; 
and, as I now invoke a blessing on 
your heads from heaven, may ye one 
day bless your children and your grand- 
children. Amen." 

This letter of farewel from their fa- 
ther revived the grief of the four bro- 
thers. They embraced each other af- 
fectionately, and vowed to preserve 
their mutual love under all the changes 
of their fortune. They immediately 
began their preparations for their jour- 
ney ; and having dispatched these, left 
their abode at Beitulsalam at day-break. 
Hassan, however, the youngest, was 
the last to quit the residence of his 
youth, and whenever he ascended an 
eminence, did not fail to stop and look 
around, that he might have the last 
glimpse of the objects that were dear 
to him ; but the three elder brothers 
neither stopped nor looked around 



13 

them, but pressed forward eagerly and 
full of hope. 

They reached the mountain-forests 
to the east without any mishap, and, 
by the aid of their father's instructions, 
which they were constantly examining, 
arrived at the huge block of black mar- 
ble which appeared to bar up the road. 
The eldest of them struck the marble, 
and exclaimed aloud, Algol. In an 
instant there started up a milk-white 
doe, with a golden bell about her neck. 
The gentle animal set out on her jour- 
ney without delay, and went trippingly 
along, while' the golden bell tinkled 
cheerfully at her neck, springing over 
bridges and paths, between brambles 
and briars, and across hills and vallies, 
till at length, having led the four sons 
of Bator through the dark clefts of a 
vast rock, and brought them to the 
bank of a broad river which ran along 



14 

a beautiful valley, she suddenly va- 
nished from their sight. On the oppo- 
site shore the hopeful travellers beheld 
a hill, the sides of which were covered 
with cedars, and on the summit of 
which they discerned an edifice, in 
which they doubted not the magician 
resided. While they were consulting 
together by what means they might 
cross the river, they beheld a dwarf 
ferrying towards them in a little boat. 
His breast was protected by a golden 
shield, and at his waist hung a golden 
key. He saluted them courteously, 
and asked them what they desired in 
the recesses of the forest. 

" May it please your honour," said 
Solmar, " our desire is to cross this 
stream ; for we are the sons of the de- 
ceased Bator, once the rich merchant 
of Basra, and lately the inhabitant of 
Beituisalam, in the province of Tauris. 



15 

At his death he enjoined us to repair 
hither, and testify our reverence for the 
great magician Algol ; and we are now 
here in obedience to his injunc- 
tions. " 

" The great magician Algol," an- 
swered the dwarf, " has already read 
your arrival in the stars. In his name 
I bid you welcome ; and he has sent 
me to conduct you over the stream, 
and lead you to his presence." 

The four brothers were astonished 
that their journey should be written in 
the stars ; but did not hesitate to step 
into the little boat, which the dwarf 
brought to the edge of the river. 

" I wish you joy," resumed the 
dwarf, " that you have placed your- 
selves under the protection of my mas- 
ter. The powerful Algol is the most 
benevolent, as w 7 ell as the richest and 
wisest of men. Unlike other sorcerers, 



16 

enchanters, conjurors, and magicians, 
he does not employ his vast riches, and 
still vaster learning, in deluding and 
tormenting poor mortal creatures, but 
applies them for no other purpose than 
to make men happy. Here he dwells 
in solitude, studying the stars for the 
benefit of mankind. He seldom leaves 
his secret apartments, never but to 
partake in the joys of friendship ; but 
delights to receive there those he can 
benefit by his wisdom. It is moreover 
his especial joy to give good counsel 
to the young, and lead them on the 
right road of life. There are, indeed, 
persons who affirm that my master's 
right counsel has,only led them wrong, 
but this was because they either did 
not follow, or did not understand his 
counsel. The former is very common, 
and the latter not impossible, on ac- 
count of the great learning of mv mas- 



17 

ter ; for you are well aware, that the 
more learned a man is, the more hard 
it is to comprehend him. But fear no- 
thing, for I have to inform you that he 
is to-day in singularly good humour. 
I will answer for it he will most graci- 
ously receive you, most hospitably en- 
tertain you, and not dismiss you with- 
out the richest presents. " 

The four brothers were delighted at 
all they heard, and firmly resolved not 
to tremble at the sight of the great 
magician, nor to suffer a word of his 
good counsel to escape them, that they 
might be sure to comprehend it. They 
had now reached the opposite shore of 
the river, and they alighted. The dwarf 
then whistled three times upon the 
golden key which was suspended at 
his w 7 aist, when three gloomy rocks, 
which presented their rugged fronts at 
the spot where they landed, slowly 



18 

sunk into the earth, and two folding 
doors, which were wrought in the so- 
lid earth, harshly creaking as they 
opened, displayed the entrance into a 
subterraneous castle. 

The dwarf led them through six 
anti-chambers, which were sparingly 
illuminated, and left them in the se- 
venth, where only a single lamp was 
burning. After a short time, the dwarf 
returned. The brothers, in spite of 
their resolution, felt their hearts beat 
violently, and their breath was almost 
taken from them. 

" Algol awaits you on his throne," 
said he, and in an instant the lofty 
folding doors of the presence-chambeT 
were thrown open. 

The stream of light which poured 
from the immense hall, nearly deprived 
the sons of Bator of their eye-sight, as 
well as their power of motion. They, 



19 

however, staggered into the apartment, 
and at the threshold fell upon their 
faces before the hundred girandoles 
from which the dazzling rays of light 
were emitted ; and before the four and 
twenty giants of massive silver, which, 
in two rows, were shouldering their 
chesnut-coloured clubs ; and before the 
precious stones which sparkled from 
the canopy ; and before the magician 
himself, who sat beneath the canopy, 
Algol arose, and advanced to meet 
them. He graciously commanded them 
to rise, and saluted them one after the 
other. He kissed them on both cheeks, 
as formerly the emirs had kissed the 
cheeks of their father Bator. 

" Ye are welcome, my children," 
said he, " ye are most heartily wel- 
come. From the hour that 1 knew 
you were on your journey, I could 
with difficulty wait for the present mo- 



20 

merit. Lay aside your timidity, and 
be assured that in me ye behold your 
best friend. " 

He then made a sign to them that 
they should repose on the white and 
gold embroidered cushions which were 
placed on his right and left. They 
obeyed him, and he seated himself un- 
der the throne in th/3 midst of them. 

" Yes, my sons, " he continued, "I 
repeat it to you once more, your visit 
gives me the greatest joy; and I shall 
ever reckon the day when I became 
acquainted with the sons of my worthy 
friend Bator, among the number of my 
festal days. Alas ! that my friend can 
not himself be with us at this hour, 
that we have to lament his loss, and 
that that loss should be so premature ! 
For, my sons, if it were desert that 
determined the ages of men, your fa- 
ther would have survived a century 



21 

longer : — He, who was at once the 
pearl of the Persian empire, and the- 
crown of his province : He, a think- 
ing man without cunning, and a phi- 
lanthropist without weakness : He, 
who, when he committed the only 
error of his life, (I mean in precipi- 
tately paying his creditors,) evinced a 
magnanimity of soul which even they 
must admire who could not praise it 
without qualification." 

Algol paused, and putting the end 
of his little finger to his left eye, ap- 
peared to rub a tear from it. The four 
brothers were sensibly affected, and 
wept bitterly. 

" But, my children," resumed Al- 
gol, " I will not embitter the joys of 
this day by indulging in painful recol- 
lections. A departed friend cannot be 
re-called by the tears we shed to his 
memory ; and unless all my knowledge 



22 

deceives . me, the place which Bator 
held in my affections will be amply 
supplied by you; for, if my eyes re- 
ally behold what they seem to behold, 
the genius of my departed friend dwells 
with all its power and loveliness in 
each of his offspring. Henceforth, 
therefore, 1 will attach myself to you, 
and seek to discharge what I owe to 
the ashes of the father, by awakening 
the spirit which is in his sons. This 
duty is sacred ; but the fulfilment [of 
it is as sweet as it is sacred. — Yet let 
me not forget ! — Before 1 discharge 
this obligation, the performance of ano- 
ther must precede it, which is equally 
sacred, and equally sweet." 

Algol stamped with his foot. The 
dwarf with the golden shield and the 
golden key entered, received a secret 
command from his master, and retired. 
In a few minutes he returned, and be- 



23 

hind him came in pairs eight moors,, 
all dressed in rose-coloured satin. Each 
pair bore between them a casket of 
black ebony, edged with silver. The 
moors set the caskets before their mas- 
ter, and went out as they came in. 

"My sons," began the benevolent 
magician again, " a lady, a friend 
whose memory will be ever dear to 
me, entrusted me with a commission, 
which it is the first of my duties to- 
wards you to execute. You already 
know that your excellent aunt, one of 
mv most intimate friends, felt the anx- 
• iety of a mother for your future wel- 
fare ; and I am assured that during your 
whole lives ye will gratefully revere 
her memory. Behold here the gifts 
which her love has provided for you, 
and which her confidence deposited for 
a time in my hands. With the most 
heartfelt satisfaction I render them to 



2 k 

you, and cordialiy wish you joy in the 
possession of them. Your portion is 
besides equal, and each of you pos- 
sesses ten thousand Persian pieces of 
gold." 

The four brothers bowed themselves 
three times to the earth, each took 
possession of his ebony casket, which 
he was just able to lift from the ground. 
Each stammered a few words of grate- 
ful thanks, and bowed himself again 
three times to the earth. 

The magician pointed to their cush- 
ions, and they again reposed upon 
them. He waved his hand, and in- 
stantly the floor began to shake, for 
the four and twenty giants of massive 
silver marched solemnly away in mea- 
sured steps, which made the hall trem- 
ble beneath their tread. 

" My sons, " began Algol again, as 
soon as he found himself alone with the 



c >5 

four children of Bator and the dwarf, 
- — " my sons, ye have no friend by 
whose experience ye may be guided, 
and ye are from henceforward left to 
the guidance of your own will. Know, 
my children, that youth is surrounded 
by dangers, and that those dangers are 
encreased ten-fold by the caskets of 
gold which stand before you. But, — I 
loved Bator once, as a father loveth his 
sons, and I love you now as I once 
loved your father. Ye have henceforth 
to supply his place to me, and I will 
supply his place to you. Hearken, 
therefore, attentively to what I am 
about to say, and suffer not one of my 
words to pass unheeded." 

The magician here paused, and cast 
his eyes upon the ground for a short 
period, like one sunken in deep medita- 
tion. The four brothers took advantage 
of this pause to adjust themselves on 
c 



26 

their cushions, and collect together 
their scattered thoughts. 

Algol had already given them gold, 
and was now about to give them wis- 
dom also. Wisdom is a hundred times 
more precious than gold ; and each of 
them made a solemn vow that he would 
deeply impress on his mind the sayings 
of his benefactor. Hassan alone, he 
who paused as he stood upon the hills 
on the road from Beitulsalam, look- 
ing back upon his father's dwelling ; 
had the strange whim of watching, not 
only the words of the benevolent ma- 
gician, but also his eyes, his left nos- 
tril, and his upper lip. Fof Algol was, 
in fact, a very well-made man, and 
had a prepossessing figure ; but his 
upper lip, from time to time, without 
any absolute necessity for it, exposed 
to sight some half dozen of his teeth ; 
his left nostril had acquired the habit 



27 

of indulging in sudden twitches and 
snatches ; and his eyes, which were in 
perpetual converse with the eternal 
eyes of heaven, were obstinately bent 
on refusing to meet those of all mortal 
beings. 

After Algol had given the four youths 
time to stretch their faculties to a state 
of the most rigid attention, he rubbed 
his forehead and eyes slowly with his 
right hand, and began to speak again. 

" My sons/' said he, " ye all know, 
and every one knows, that in this em- 
pire of Persia there are a great number 
of fairies. Ye know also that these 
fairies rival each other in beauty, riches, 
and power. But ye do not know, 
what indeed few are informed of, that 
among these fairies is one who surpasses 
all the rest in beauty, power, and riches, 
and that this queen of all fairies bears 
the name of Am atoxda. O, my sons ! 
c 2 



28 

he who knows the fairy Amatonda, is 
transported with rapture when he hears 
but her name pronounced ; and let him, 
whose heart has never beaten, seek to 
know her, and feel whether he has a 
heart that is still capable of beating. 

" For know, that he, before whom 
the fairy Amatonda has but a single 
time appeared, — whom she has but 
once encircled within her magic arms, 
— whom she has but once pressed to 
her virgin bosom, and transported with 
one fairy kiss, — he is from henceforth 
become the favorite of destiny, and has 
nought further to fear from the caprice 
of fortune. From the moment of this 
embrace, his repose cannot be disturbed 
by omnipotent Nature herself; his bliss 
cannot be assailed by the shocks of 
eternal destiny. 

44 From henceforward the treasures 
of th£ earth may fall to his share ; he 



29 

will receive them as unexpected guests 
are received. He may be suddenly 
stripped of these treasures; and he will 
see them depart as we behold strangers 
depart. Let him ascend to the highest 
dignities, he will know how to clothe 
himself in them, .as a man puts on a 
cloak of ceremony ; he may be dis- 
missed from his dignities, and he will 
stand as completely equipped as be- 
fore. And, what transcends in im- 
portance every other prerogative, my 
sons, the highest of all the enjoyments 
granted to mortals, that fore-taste of 
the ravishing delights which await you 
in the Paradise of the great Prophet, 
that which gives life to all pleasure, 
and is the spirit of all life — Love, my 
children, will be a source of bliss only, 
not of anguish to him. a 

H All the charms of those half-earthly, 
half-celestial beings, which ye call beau- 



30 

teous women, will be his own. He will 
enjoy what is earthly in them, like a 
voluptuary, but he will break the rose 
without touching the thorn. Let this 
earthly bliss be denied him, he will 
still smile, for he will feel that what is 
not of earth cannot be torn from him. 
For know, that the demi-god who has 
once cast his eyes upon celestial beauty, 
rests in the enjoyment of it as long as , 
the blood flows through his veins." 

The four youths of Beitulsalam gave 
no sign of life. Their mouths were 
open: their eyes were without motion. 
Nothing like this had ever been said to 
them in the province of Tauris. Algol 
was silent, that the functions of life 
might be renewed in them, and now 
a four-fold exclamation was echoed 
from the marble walls of the immense 
apartment. 

" Yes, my sons," Algol resumed, 



31 

4i he whom the fairy Amatonda has 
embraced, enjoys the repose of the 
blessed, whether he be transplanted 
into a gorgeous palace, or left to pass 
his days in the solitude of a lowly cot- 
tage ; whether he press into the midst 
of giddy crowds, or whether he wander 
alone in the retired wilderness. But 
even in Persia, there are found few ex- 
amples of such an embrace in the 
course of a whole century ; for the 
fairy Amatonda has proclaimed the 
inviolable law, that she will embrace 
him only who lives in entire peace with 
his own heart. This peace, let me 
however remind you, is of no easy 
attainment ; but it is not therefore im- 
possible. Noble minds yearn after 
arduous achievements ; they scorn the 
easy acquisition ; and he who earnestly 
wills to do what he can, will not fail 
to do what he wills, more especially 



39 

if he reject not the guidance of an ex- 
perienced friend." 

An involuntary movement, which 
proceeded from the heaving bosoms of 
the youths, and appeared on a sudden 
to invigorate their arms, which were 
before lying motionless on the cushions, 
indicated to the magician that they too 
loved the arduous. He mused for a 
few seconds, to let the vibrations of 
the movement die away, and then 
continued. 

" Your noble disquietude, my young 
friends, betrays the longing desire of 
your hearts; and, unless 1 have decy- 
phered amiss the book of fate, I have 
read in it the name of Amatonda united 
to that of the sons of Bator. The light 
which I partake of shall therefore shine 
to you also, and my finger shall point 
out to every one of you, the path which 
will assuredly conduct him to the arms 



33 

of the fairy princess. But each of you, 
my children, has a heart as well as eyes 
which are his own. Each of you has 
other wishes, other wants, other 
claims ; and were all of you to make 
your pilgrimage to Amatonda on the 
same road, three of you at least would 
certainly fai). Your paths diverge 
widely from each other, but at the 
end of each stands Amatonda, with 
open arms ready to receive you. 

" But, lest I should be the cause of 
a needless jealousy among you, it is 
necessary that I should communicate 
to each apart what it is necessary that 
each should know ; and I am assured 
that you will preserve within the re- 
cesses of your several bosoms the 
secret which I shall impart. I will 
now for a short time dismiss you, that 
you may, without restraint, enjoy the 
c 5 



34 

refreshments which a laborious journey 
must have rendered needful. " 

The four brothers arose, and pro- 
strated themselves on the earth before 
the wisdom which had been addressed 
to them. The dwarf made a sign, and 
they followed him with unsteady steps 
into another hall, the walls of which 
appeared to consist only of unbroken 
mirrors. But on a sudden, — let the 
reader conceive the astonishment of 
the innocent strangers, or rather let 
him prepare himself for emotions of 
secret terror, — on a sudden, they be- 
held at their side — four unspeakably 
benignant, and unspeakably bashful 
maidens, who were all enveloped in a 
garment resembling the azure firma- 
ment, besprinkled with silver stars, 
and who probably had only that morn- 
ing left the paradise of the great Prophet. 



35 

Had the sons of Bator on a sud- 
den beheld four wolves or four bears, 
they would have been terrified, that 
is true; but they would certainly have 
sought for safety in the strength of 
their arms. But against such aerial 
phenomena, there is no thinking of 
either armour or escape. For, let an 
army of 10,000 sturdy striplings be 
assembled in Persia, — all armed from 
head to foot, with scymeters in their 
hands, and ready for combat; — let 
the colours be flying around them, and 
the matches be lighted ; — ■ let the 
trumpets and kettle-drums urge the 
warriors to the attack ; — and then let 
an army of 10,000 blooming maidens 
appear before them, armed with no- 
thing but thin. muslin which flutters 
around them, and the silken girdle 
which somewhat restrains the flutter- 
ing. — Let the female general step 



36 

modestly forward, and, bending herself 
gracefully, with a divine smile, lay 
her right hand on her bosom, and point 
with her left to the fearful squadron 
behind, — the haughty colours will 
be soon seen unsteadily waving in both 
wings of the hostile army; — and then 
let her raise her voice, and, with down- 
cast eves and bashful blush, humbly 
beg that the general of the male army 
will have the goodness, without delay, 
to surrender at discretion; — and one 
might wager, without danger, a million 
pieces of Persian gold against a chesnut, 
that, before the fourth part of an hour 
has elapsed, the matches will be ex- 
tinguished under feet, the army and 
swords cast upon the ground, and their 
former possessors led into slavery. 
For the well known fable of that tre- 
mendous being, who, by the glances 
which beam merely from two beauteous 



eyes, stuns and confounds all living 
beings, and renders them as motionless 
as stone, but not as hard : — this fable, 
be it known, was not invented in jest, 
but in Persia, no man dares confess that 
he understands it. 

The four brothers from Beitulsalam 
were far from being recovered from 
their consternation, when the four 
maidens from Paradise already stretch- 
ed out their arms towards them, with a 
ravishing condescension, and then they 
all sat in pairs upon the rose-coloured 
sofas. 

Lambs and innocent striplings have 
from time immemorial had this in com- 
mon, that they lose all their appetite 
for food when shut up with wolves and 
innocent maidens. The four aerial 
forms took each one golden cup after 
the other, and pressed the young men, 
with the sweetest entreaties, to accept 



38 

of refreshment from one of the cups at 
least: but it was all in vain; not one 
of them could take a single sip ; while 
the paleness of death and the flush of 
a fever alternately set upon their 
cheeks. There they were, with fixed 
eyes, now and then bending their 
heads in silence, and unable to pro- 
nounce, or even to call to their recol- 
lection, any one of the many thousand 
words of the Persian language with 
which thtey were acquainted. 

Hassan alone recovered his voice for 
a moment. He suddenly sunk from 
his sofa upon the floor, and, throwing 
himself before the figure which had 
him in her power, exclaimed eagerly: 

" Are you, then, perhaps, the fairy 
Amatonda? and have you, then, se- 
cretly embraced me while I was lost 
in astonishment ?" 

" No, Persian!" replied the maiden, 



39 

blushing sweetly as she spake, " my 
name is not Amatonda, and I never 
embraced any one but these, my play- 
fellows. Algol is occupied in his 
observatory, and he sent us hither that 
we might invite you to take some 
refreshment. It is a sad pity that we 
are so unfit for our office. 5 ' 

Now, it is notorious that the daugh- 
ters of Paradise have two hands, and 
it is also notorious that those hands 
have the secret power of attracting to 
them the lips of all the young men 
who kneel before them, whosoever 
they may be. While, therefore, Has- 
san was on his knees, and the maiden 
was answering him, one of her hands 
began to exert its power, and Hassan 
was instantly compelled to cover it 
with burning kisses. After a short 
time, the other hand began to attract 
more strongly than the former, and 



40 

Hassan was under the necessity of 
loading that too with his embraces. 
And in this way both hands continued 
to play their tricks with poor Hassan ; 
for the hand which was not kissed al- 
ways had a stronger attraction than the 
one on which his lips actually lay. 

His brothers, in like manner, were 
not long able to retain their seats on 
their sofas. It was quite affecting to 
behold how, one after the other, they 
were each drawn down to the feet of 
these female magicians, by some secret 
enchantment; and how they, as well 
as Hassan, were made sport of by the 
two hands of their respective torment- 
ors. Hassan, however, had luckily 
just found out the expedient of kissing 
both hands of his persecutor at once, 
when a clap of thunder put a sudden 
end to the necromancy. 

Algol, who possibly on this one occa- 






41 

sion had not been looking at the stars, 
believed that the sons of Bator had 
now had time to take the refreshment 
which was offered them, and gave an 
intimation by thunder from his obser- 
vatory, that the dwarf should conduct 
the youths to him. 

The dwarf entered, and the daugh- 
ters of Paradise instantly glowed like 
young roses in the morning dew. The 
dwarf requested the brothers to follow 
him, but the sorceresses had already 
enveloped their invisible toils so closely 
round them, that they did not hear 
his message till it had been thrice re- 
peated. They tore themselves quickly 
from the maidens ; the invisible toils 
all burst with a few loud sighs, and 
the dwarf opened the door. Hassan, 
even when he had reached it, might 
possibly feet that he was bound by 
some cords, for he hastily sprang back. 



42 

and threw himself upon the hand of 
the enchantress, probably to moisten 
the ligatures by which he was still 
bound, with the tears which fell from 
him. 

They followed the dwarf to the ob- 
servatory, who made them ascend 
some hundred steps, and, having de- 
sired the three younger brothers to 
tarry in the anti-chamber, he opened 
the door of the observatory to the 
eldest. 

Algol sat upon a sofa, and before 
him stood a desk, on which was a 
huge volume. It lay open, and was 
covered with unknown characters. 
Towards each of the four quarters of 
the firmament a number of telescopes 
were fixed, and on the floor there lay 
around, some rolls of parchment. Sol- 
mar was ordered to place himself upon 
the sofa. 



43 

" My son/* began Algolin a solemn 
tone, " of thee much will be spoken, and 
I wish thee joy to victory and glory. 
Thou appearest astonished at my ad- 
dress ; but I will explain it to thee as 
far as thy welfare requires. 

" Even now, valor announces itself 
in the firmness of thy step ; and the 
piercing glance of thy eye would point 
out to me thy future destination, had 
I not elsewhere read the prognostics of 
thy fame. Perhaps thou art yet unac- 
quainted with thyself; but I will cause 
a prancing steed to march before thee, 
equipped for the field — a trumpet 
shall invite it to the combat ; it shall 
neigh, and beat the ground with its 
feet, eager to rush upon the foe, and 

Thou hast betrayed thyself ; I see 

thy eyes sparkle ; and from this hour 
thou art become conscious of thy own 
nature. Yes, my son, thy swelling 



44 

chest demands to be covered with a 
breast-plate ; and thy right arm has 
been strung with muscles of iron, that 
it may wield a sword. A youth en- 
dued with thy fire and thy conscious- 
ness, is not formed for the inglorious 
ease of a country life, or the paltry 
restlessness of commerce, or the con- 
suming ennui of a court. Thy calling 
is to pass thy days on the war-horse, 
and thy nights in the tented field: the 
sole way which thou hast to take in 
search of the entire repose of thy heart, 
is the way on which the trumpet of 
war shall lead thee. 

" I see thou art resolved; and there- 
fore I will at once give thee the intel- 
ligence thou needest, that thou mayst 
without delay enter on the career which 
leads thee to glory. The stars have in- 
structed me, that the ravaging Osmans 
have entered one of the frontier-pro- 



45 

vinces. The barbarians are scattering 
fire and sword in every direction, and 
are leading men, women, and children 
into slavery. The Shah of Persia is 
collecting a powerful army to avenge 
this inroad. Arise, then, and let me 
initiate thee into thy calling." 

Algol arose, and fixed a gorgeous 
belt on the loins of the eldest son of 
Bator. To the belt was attached a 
sword with a sparkling hilt. 

" This sword, my son, pierces every 
bone on which it alights. Accept it 
as a proof of my love, and by its aid 
acquire to thyself an immortal name 
in the annals of Persia; and, in so 
doing, also, the eternal repose of thy 
heart. Equip for thyself a warlike 
steed, hasten to the army which the 
Shah of Persia has collected, and so- 
licit permission to join in avenging thy 
country. 



46 

" In spirit, I already see thee mount- 
ing thy charger, and drawing forth thy 
sword on the day of the first battle. 
Thou invitest volunteers to join thee. 
Thou places t thyself at their head. 
Thou and they rush together, like a 
torrent, upon the ranks of the Osmans. 
A dreadful combat ensues between 
man and man. To the ridit and left 

o 

thou spreadest mutilation and slaugh- 
ter. Thy sword hews thee a passage 
into the phalanx of the Osmans, and 
their ranks are broken and overwhelm- 
ed. Thy arm has decided the first bat- 
tle, and thy name resounds from wing 
to wing of the Persian army. I see 
the commander in chief in search of 
thee ; he embraces thee, and entrusts 
to thee a division of his army. Thou 
pressest forward, and never recedest ; 
and he who fights under thy banner, 
feels his ^trcn^th encreased four-fold, 



The Shah of Persia entrusts an army 
to thee ; thou conquerest provinces, 

and but I refrain ; it becomes not 

me to anticipate the history of the 
Persian empire. 

" Hasten, therefore, mount thy 
steed, and repair to the army ; for 
only on the reeking field of slaughter, 
in the midst of streams of blood, and 
surrounded by the groans and cries of 
the wounded and the dying, willAma- 
tonda appear before thee^ and embrace 
thee." 

Solmar fell prostrate upon the earth, 
kissed the hem of Algol's garment, and 
glowed with impatience to rush upon 
the swarms of the ravaging Osmans. 

The magician smiled with benignity 
upon him, making a sign that he might 
retire. The dwarf then beckoned to 
Murad, the second brother, who 
entered the apartment, and placed 



4S 

himself on the sofa by the side of 
Algol. 

" My son," said the magician, as 
he turned over one of the leaves of his 
huge book, " I once knew a young 
man, whom nature had furnished with 
the most powerful of all letters of in- 
troduction, the efficacy of which was 
instantly acknowledged by all who 
perused it: it consisted in the gift of 
pleasing. This youth had a noble and 
slender figure ; his body could assume 
every graceful posture, and all his 
movements were unconstrained and 
unpretending. AV r hile the prepossessing 
features of his countenance seemed to 
solicit kindness, his aquiline nose im- 
plied the power of seizing it with vio- 
lence, in case of necessity. And, with 
these attractions, it was to no purpose 
that the modesty which sat upon his 
forehead* seemed, as it were, to over- 



49 

shadow the acuteness which shone m 
his eyes. This youth, however, took 
this letter of introduction, and buried 
it in a wilderness. I ask thee, there- 
fore, my son, whether, in acting thus, 
he did right or wrong. M 

" Surely, not right, " answered Mu- 
rad with precipitation, and at the same 
time he bowed lowly towards the earth. 

" My dear son," continued the ma- 
gician, " he is not culpable who does 
not possess a talent ; but he is, who 
neglects to employ what he does pos- 
sess : but the youth of whom I spake 
is thyself, and thou wouldst commit a 
species of self-murder, wert thou any 
longer to bury thy graces and powers 
in a remote province of Persia. He 
who possesses understanding, manners, 
and an aquiline nose, is born to please 
and to govern ; and he who is formed 
to govern, will find repose no where 

P 



50 

but in the seat of power, and will 
never be embraced by Amatonda but 
at the court of a mighty sultan. And 
in these words I have pointed out to 
thee thy career." 

Murad bowed before the magician 
with deep veneration. 

" In our courts of Asia, understand- 
ing is prized beyond all estimation ; but 
in none is it more highly valued than 
in the capital of the Sultan of Cash- 
mire. Every spark of intelligence is 
there the object of universal admiration, 
and even the appearance only of a spark 
sets the city in tumult. It is there- 
fore thy duty, immediately on thy re- 
turn, to take an eternal farewel of Bei- 
tulsalam, and repair to Cashmire. 

" When thou art there, my son, be- 
gin thy career as a stranger, by enquir- 
ing the names of those who at present 
stand in the favour of the court, that 



5\ 

thou mayst find out their male slaves 
and female slaves, and fall prostrate be- 
fore them. These slaves will praise thy 
understanding to their masters, and 
their masters' wives, and thou wilt 
again fall prostrate before them, yet 
not so humbly as before the slave 
through whom thou hast gained ad- 
mittance. Thou wilt then endeavour 
to profit, especially among the women, 
by the praises which will have preceded 
thee ; and if these women are wanting 
in youth, or if their youth is wanting 
in attractions, they will be more sus- 
ceptible to the impression of thy at- 
tentions and importunities. 

" In general, I trust to thy own 
sense of decorum, that thou wilt accus- 
tom thyself in Cashmire to think what 
thou dost not say, and to say what 
thou dost not think; — to give the 
name of a virtue to vice, and of a vice 
D 2 



.52 

to virtue ; — -to kiss thy friends twice, 
and thy enemies four times ; — and in 
every instance to profit by the present 
occasion, and make use of thy under- 
standing. ,, 

Algol drew from his finger a dia- 
mond ring, and presented it to Murad. 

" And that in Cashmire thou mayst 
err as seldom as possible, this ring, 
with which my paternal care furnishes 
thee, will press the inner part of thy 
finger when thou speakest too warmly 
Op any subject, and the outer part of 
it when thy language is too cold. Go 
thy way, my son, please and govern. 
When the inhabitants of the kingdom 
of Cashmire shall fall down on their 
faces before thee ; — when the grandees 
of the court shall anxiously watch the 
expression of thy countenance; — -when 
the sultan shall now and then grate- 
fully press thee by the hand ; — and 



53 

when the sultanas shall burn with jea- 
lousy, and intrigue for the privilege of 
assuring thee in private of their favor ; 
— then first in some secret chamber of 
the palace at Cashmire, will Amatonda 
appear before thee, and embrace thee>" 

Murad sprang hastily up, and hur- 
ried towards the door ; but on a sudden 
he recollected himself, threw himself 
in a graceful posture once more upon 
the sofa, and kissed three times the 
carpet upon which the feet of the ma- 
gician rested. 

Algol, with an approving smile, in- 
formed him he might retire. The dwarf 
made a sign to the third brother, and 
Selim entered, and placed himself on 
the sofa on which his brother sat be- 
fore. 

" My son, V said the magician, " sul- 
tans-die, and are forgotten ; heroes die, 
and are accursed ; poets die, and are 



54 

deified. I have more than a year long- 
ed to behold thee face to face, and am 
overjoyed that this day has crowned 
my wishes. Dost thou know this 
writing? " 

The magician put into his hand some 
papers which lay near him ; and Selim, 
having recognised his own hand-writ- 
ing, blushed, and made a deep bow. 

" A present from thy father," con- 
tinued Algol, " and one I would part 
with for no price. I have heard that 
the author would often spend his days 
without food, and his nights without 
sleep, in order to inscribe on paper the 
workings of his fancy; but thus much 
I certainly know, that he is regardless 
of both sleep and food, who contem- 
plates these his creations. How ad- 
mirable are they ! What the omnipo- 
tence of Nature could never unite, is 
here combined and consolidated with 



55 

perfect harmony ; and what Nature 
could never separate, hold here an in- 
dependent existence, and wonder at 
each other when they meet. Yes, my 
son, when Nature had produced the 
fancy of this poet, she beheld her own 
daughter with wonder, kissed her, and 
dismissed her with these words, — 4 Go 
thy way, and prosper, my daughter, 
though thy mother will be eclipsed by 
thee ; and this is just, for the mother, 
if she purpose to shake the earth, must 
at least set a volcano in motion, but 
the daughter lets a single rose-leaf fall, 
and the pillars of the globe totter !' " 

Selim sat in silent meditation, and' 
cast his eyes upon the ground. 

" I said, when poets die; forgive me, 
Selim, I erred, poets never die. They 
cannot die, at least not until every 
thing has perished which can perish. 
Yes, my son, poets alone are immortal, 



66 

and Selim, the son of Bator, was born 
a poet. " 

Selim breathed anxiously, and be- 
held Algol with an air of melan- 
choly. 

" The feverish carnation of thy 
cheek, my son, the melting of thy 
eye, and even the sigh, which, if I 
mistake not, I lately heard, betray to 
me that thou art conscious of thy own 
nature, and hast a presentiment of the 
larger horizon marked out for thee. 
Thy presentiment is just, my son. 
Hitherto thou hast known nothing but 
— ■ how shall 1 fitly name it ? — the mo- 
notonous confusion of lifeless nature. As 
yet, thou art unacquainted with the 
great world, and art ignorant of the in- 
exhaustible affluence of forms which 
it presents to thee; of the delightful 
concatenation of passions by which it 
is maintained ; and more especially of 



57 

the ineffable bliss which springs from 
refined love." 

Selim attempted to suppress a sigh, 
but the sigh was obstinate, and forced 
itself a passage with violence. 

" Be comforted, my son ; nothing is 
yet lost ; and if thou honestly folio west 
the counsels of an experienced friend, 
thou wilt not fail to partake of immor- 
tality,- peace with thy own heart, and 
the embrace of Amatonda. There is 
one spot on the earth alone adapted to 
give thee entire repose. This spot has 
been, during a century, the seat of cul- 
tivated manners, and the school of good 
taste; and there thou wilt find judges, 
more especially female judges, who, 
by their kind aid, will give to thy works 
perfection, and, by their favouring 
judgment, affix on them the stamp of 
immortality. Agra, the splendid resi- 
dence of the grand Mogul, is the spot 
d 5 



5S 

of which I speak. There, Selim, thou 
wilt in one day find more materials for 
thought, than in the province of Tauris 
in a whole century." 

Selim announced, by a low bow to 
the magician, that he was resolved to 
obey. 

" Is it, then, thy concern to secure 
the embrace of Amatonda, my son, 
tarry not by the way ; hasten to Agra, 
and rushing into the midst of the ra- 
ging waves of that immense capital, 
see, hear, imbibe all that presents 
itself to thee, and be inspired. Then 
pour forth the visions which thou w r ilt 
behold, in one stream upon thy paper. 
Should they be strange, perplexed, and 
monstrous, so much the better for 
thee. Change nothing, polish no- 
thing, complete nothing. Thy work 
must absolutely proceed from nothing, 
and lead to nothing. It must present 



59 

nothing upon which the mind can dis- 
tinctly rest, but so much the more 
that may be obscurely felt. Then seek, 
in some dictionary, for some twenty 
extravagant words ; write those words 
on twenty pieces of paper, and let a 
child draw one of them by chance. 
Set the word which shall be drawn, at 
the head of th^ work, and if thou place 
two such words at the front of thy pro- 
duction, then the issue will be more 
sure. But both titles must have no 
reference to each other, nor to thy 
work. Then, happy Selim, bring 
forth thy production on a sudden, and 
thou wilt be astonished at the astonish- 
ment of all Agra. " 

Selim stared with wonder at the 
magician. 

" c Oh how divine a man ! 5 the ladies 
will all exclaim ; — < there is no know- 
ing what he aims at.?. — •■} It turns one 



60 

quite giddy to follow him ; and then, it 
is written so strangely and queerly, 
that absolutely no common person is 
able to read it aloud !' 'By Alia and 
Bramha ! ' the men will afterward ex- 
claim, ■ this is a genuine masterpiece, 
— pure, luxuriant, inartificial nature, 
no end, no design, no whole; you 
may read it as well backwards as for- 
wards ! ' — ' He never fails to give us 
something to think upon; — we must 
have him of our parties/ — Thy work, 
my son, will be the novelty of the 
day in all the four quarters of Agra. 
The men will invite thee to their feasts, 
and the women to their toilets. The 
men will scatter incense before thee, 
and the women will give thee their 
scarfs to tye, and their veils to un- 
bind/' 

Selim sighed again, and deeper than 
he had ever sighed before. 



61 

64 Within twelve months after thy 
arrival, thou wilt shower down thy 
second work upon too happy Agra, 
and thou thyself wilt bow before this 
work, as if it were an oracle. But Agra 
will become intoxicated ; and whoever 
does not hail thee son of the gods, or at 
least, brother of immortality, will be 
banished from all good company by the 
ladies. ' Oh, praised be our age ! ? 
men and women will exclaim, ' a 
being of a higher order has appeared 
among us. We do not understand 
what he says, but so much the more 
just is our homage/ " 

Algol handed a golden tube to the 
son of Bator. 

" My son, time will be invaluable 
to thee in Agra; and he who saves 
time, saves much. Accept, as a proof 
of my love, this small tube. It con- 
tains a pen which will never become 



69 

blunt, and which will write as fast 
as thou speakest. Hasten now to 
thy splendid destiny. Wave the magic 
rod of thy imagination over the im- 
mense capital, and throw its inhabi- 
tants into a state of rapture with thy 
fictions, as if they were unheard of 
visions of the air ; and then, when 
on each morning the first question 
which proceeds from the ladies of 
Agra will be, ' What new work has 
the immortal man produced?' — when 
the traveller, on his return from Agra, 
shall, before all things, relate whether 
he had the felicity 7 of catching a glimpse 
of thee, though at a distance; — and 
when a lock of thy hair, divided into 
many small portions, and enclosed in 
a hundred sparkling lockets, shall 
adorn a hundred of the fairest bosoms 
in Agra; — then, Selim, while thou 
art one evening by the side of one of 



63 

the most brilliant beauties of Agra, in 
the silence of a solitary apartment, and 
by the faint light of a remote and single 
taper, which has for an hour been neg- 
lected ; — at such a moment, Selim, 
Amatonda will appear before thee, and 
embrace thee. " 

The last words of the magician raised 
the enthusiasm of Selim to its utmost 
height. He could no longer restrain 
himself; but sprang up hastily, and 
embraced Algol. Then he sank down, 
and kissed the hem of his garment. 
Then he arose once more, and again 
embraced the magician. 

Algol, with a friendly smile, then 
intimated to Selim that he should retire, 
and the dwarf beckoned to the youngest 
brother. Hassan entered ; but the ma- 
gician was forced to press him three 
times, before he would place himself 



64 

on the seat his brothers had occupied 
by the side of Algol. 

" My son," said he, after he had 
for some time silently perused the 
great book, " thy innocent countenance 
won my affections at the first moment 
that I beheld thee ; and I especially 
rejoiced to behold in thee the image 
of thy father Bator, whom 1 never can 
forget. That repose of soul which is 
obvious to those who behold thee, 
even if they have not studied the 
human countenance, clearly shows 
that thou art conscious of no evil ; and 
the attractive benevolence which at 
the same time also shines in thy eye, 
announces to every one that thou 
suspectest no evil in others. But, my 
child, this purity of heart, which, on 
the one hand, so delights me, on the 
other hand, makes me tremble for thee. 



65 

" Men are selfish, deceitful, and ma- 
lignant. Thou art generous, confiden- 
tial, and compassionate. Thy father, 
whom I have bitterly deplored, has left 
thee. Thy elder brothers, whom I 
heartily love, must also leave thee in 
search of Amatonda. Thou standest 
alone, without a guide, a counsellor, 
or friend. The good are, alas ! destined 
to be the prey of the wicked ; and, 
wert thou to remain longer alone in the 
midst of a corrupt world, thou wouldst 
soon fatally experience this in thyself. 
Thy heart would then be indignant 
against mankind ; peace with thyself 
would be lost for ever; and Amatonda 
would never be found by thee." 

Hassan sighed aloud, as soon as he 
heard the name of Amatonda. 

"But there still remain asylums 
whither integrity, brotherly love, and 
ail the social virtues have fled for re- 



66 

fuge; where peace and fidelity take up 
their abode ; and from which deceit 
and dissention are expelled. " 

Hassan fixed his looks upon the eye 
of the magician, who at the same time 
grasped his hand. 

" Thou canst readily imagine that I 
speak of those venerable walls which 
resound only with pious prayers and 
sacred hymns ; and whose inhabitants 
call each other brothers, and are really 
brothers. Arise, therefore, my son, 
secure the purity of thy soul, or, for 
it is the same thing, peace in thy heart. 
Leave Beitulsalam behind thee. Re- 
ceive the legacy of thy aunt, and all 
that js thine ; give one half of it to the 
poor, and the other half to the holy 
abode which thou wilt select as thy place 
of refuge, and become a pious dervise." 

Hassan slowly withdrew his hand 
from the hand of the magician, 



67 

" Thy heroic resolution will resound 
through all Persia. Men and women 
will be anxious to behold the bloom- 
ing youth who gave one half of his 
property to the poor, and one half to 
the sanctuary. From each province 
the worshippers of the great Prophet 
will make their pilgrimage to the abode 
of the new saint, and will spread the 
fame of thy devotion through every 
province to which they return. The 
virtues, my son, are contagious ; and 
from thee will proceed the virtues of 
other men." 

Algol took a small girdle of hair 
which lay by him, and presented it to 
the youth. 

" With this girdle I consecrate thee 
to thy vocation. He who wears it 
is able to continue for twelve hours, with- 
out intermission, and without becoming 
giddy, the dance round the sacred ring 



68 

of the venerable servants of the Pro- 
phet. While thy holy brethren, stun- 
ned and senseless from the rotary 
motion, will lie on the ground, thou 
wilt be able, to the wonder of the pro- 
strate believers, to sustain the dance 
for many hours, and at last stand 
upright upon one foot ! Believers will 
from that hour fall on their faces when 
they behold thee but at a distance. 
They will, by degrees, lead all the sick 
who are afflicted to thee, and the touch 
of thy hand will cure the diseases of 
those who have faith in thee. At 
length, in the midst of the grateful 
blessings of the poor, whom thou wilt 
have fed, clothed, and healed ; — 
amid the eulogies and benedictions of 
the holy brethren, whose pride and 
oracle thou wilt be; — amid the burn- 
ing kisses which men and women will 
press with ardent devotion on the 



69 

prints of thy feet; — at some solemn 
celebration which will take place within 
those holy walls, in the presence of 
thy brethren and all the people, Ama- 
tonda ivill on a sudden appear before 
thee, and embrace thee" 

Hassan was sunk in deep meditation. 
The magician made a sign to him that 
he might retire. Hassan arose, and, 
in his absence of mind, forgot to kiss 
the hem of Algol's garment, and went 
out to his brothers. 

The dwarf invited the four sons of 
Bator to empty a small golden cup 
to the health of their sublime bene- 
factor. Each emptied the golden cup, 
and, as they severally opened their 
eyes, they found themselves on their 
beds in Beitulsalam ; and by the bed 
of each stood his casket containing the 
pieces of gold ; and on each casket was 
severally laid the present given by the 



70 

magician to the four sons of Bator. 
The inchanted draught from the golden 
cup had thrown them into a deep 
slumber, and a chariot, drawn by fly- 
ing dragons, had rapidly brought them 
to their lowly dwelling. 

Having recovered from their asto- 
nishment, the sons of Bator proceeded 
to examine their caskets, and found 
the magician was a man of his word : 
not one of the promised number of the 
pieces of gold was missing. They all 
deposited their treasures in a place of 
security, and departed in silence in 
different directions. 

Murad withdrew to a retired spot, 
in order to practise genuflexions and 
prostrations ; and at the same time he 
fixed his admiring eyes on the finger 
which bore the diamond ring, the pre- 
sent from Algol. 

Selim, also, finding himself alone, 



n 

pronounced with rapture an inter- 
minable poem in praise of his bene- 
factor Algol, and with his golden pen 
affixed it upon paper, while in the act 
of declaiming it. 

Solmar, lost in fancy, wandered to 
a neighbouring thicket, and there, with 
his sword, hewed himself a path through 
thorns and briars. 

Hassan, in the mean while, went and 
hid his girdle in the hollow of a tree, 
and, with his hands crossed behind 
him, sauntered through the fields of 
which he was co-inheritor. As he 
walked, he frequently shook his head, 
remained now and then motionless in 
his path, talked often to himself, and 
muttered between his lips something 
concerning the fairy Amatonda. 

Night came on, and the brothers 
were once more together. They could 
not converse, and soon retired to their 



72 

several chambers : but there they could 
not sleep. They sighed as they lay 
restless on their beds ; nor could any 
one of them, during the whole night, 
find a posture in which he could repose. 
Day broke, and they all sprang 
hastily from their beds ; but, when 
they met, each was occupied by his 
own meditations. At length, Selim 
broke silence, by asking how many 
days' journey it might be to Agra; 
and instantly Murad enquired the dis- 
tance from Cashmire; and Solmar how 
far it was to the Osman frontiers. No 
one, however, answered the enquiries 
of his brother, and they all relapsed 
into their former silence. Hassan alone 
made no enquiries ; for he had been 
standing unmoved at the window, with 
his eyes fixed on the door of his neigh- 
bour's house which was on the oppo- 
site side of the way. 



73 

When they sat down to their noon- 
day meal, it was immediately obvious 
that no one was hungry. From mere 
ennui, the brothers began at length to 
converse ; first of the weather, then 
of the ravaging Osmans, the great 
mogul, and the sultanas of Cashmire ; 
and at last the three elder brothers con- 
fessed that they had pressing business 
in the wide world, and were obliged 
to abandon Beitulsalam for ever. It 
was further discovered to be indis- 
pensably necessary for them to sell 
their paternal inheritance to the first 
purchaser they could find, and divide 
the produce between them. 

" Brothers/' said Hassan, " I know 
of a purchaser ; call some intelligent 
person on whom you can rely ; let him 
estimate the value of our fathers land ; 
I have no business in the wide world, 
and our bargain will soon be closed." 



74 

Hassan's proposal was received with 
great approbation. The intelligent 
person was found, the land was esti- 
mated, and the three elder brothers 
received the purchase money from 
Hassan without a moment's delay. 

He who is looking forward to the 
joys of life, has no time to lose. The 
three brothers hastened the prepara- 
tions for their journey as much as 
possible, and, on one fine morning, set 
off together in search of Amatonda. 

Hassan embraced them all with tears 
in his eyes, one after the other, wished 
them success and joy in all their un- 
dertakings, looked after them as long 
as he could see them, and then con- 
tinued standing pensively at the en- 
trance of his paternal inheritance, 
which was now become his property. 

" I wish, with all my heart," said 
he to himself, " that they may meet 






75 

with Mrs. Amatonda, whoever she 
may be; but for my part, I will not stir 
a step after her. " 

He then seized a spade, took his 
girdle of hair which the magician had 
given him, from out of the hollow tree 
in which he had placed it, and walked 
slowly along to the furthest corner of 
his little estate, muttering to himself 
as he went along. He then dug a deep 
hole, and threw his girdle into it. 

" I can use thee for nothing," said 
Jie ; and if the great Prophet preserve 
to me these two hands and this spade, 
I care not a fig for any present a sorce- 
rer can make me. " 

He was thus employed in shovelling 
the soil upon his girdle, when a young 
dervise passed by, and begged alms of 
him : Hassan stopped, and gave him 
something. The dervise thanked htm 
e 2 



76 

humbly, and asked him what lie was 
burying. 

" A magic girdle, " said Hassan. 

" How ! a magic girdle ! and what, 
then, is its virtue ? " 

" He who wears it, can turn himself 
round in a circle for twelve hours 
without ceasing, and without growing 
giddy." 

" By the great Prophet ! and durst 
thou bury so great a jewel ? Give it 
to me." 

" Take it, if thou wilt; I envy no 
one his acquisition." 

The dervise threw himself upon the 
earth, and, with both hands, eagerly 
dragged up the precious girdle. Has- 
san filled up the hole again with his 
spade, and they departed, well pleased, 
from each other. 

Solitude in Beitulsalam is an un- 



pleasant situation at the age of twenty- 
one ; and if it should happen that the 
reel use should have a female neigh- 
bour with a pair of blue eyes, and 
being only eighteen years old, who in 
like manner lives alone, this solitude 
then becomes one of the greatest tor- 
ments conceivable. However, Amina, 
the daughter of Abuhissar, did not 
live quite alone; for she was mistress 
of the little cottage of her aged father ; 
and everyone at Beitulsalam said, that 
she discharged her duties as house- 
keeper with as much sweetness and 
alacrity, as her worthy mother had 
done before her, who had been dead 
about a year. 

When Hassan had lived three whole 
days in solitude, his dwelling became 
quite a burthen to him. He had no 
other relief than to keep continually 
opening the casement which fronted 



7$ 

the abode of Amina. But might not 
any stranger who passed the street, 
to say nothing of the inhabitants of 
Beitulsalam, hit upon the idea that 
Hassan might be standing at the win- 
dow in order to look at Amina when 
she came out ? He blushed at the 
thought, and always shut the window 
whenever it occurred to him ; but as 
he was always forgetting it again, he 
resolved to go into the fields where no 
one could see him. 

After wandering about some time, 
he fell into a deep reverie, and then 
quite unintentionally knocked at the 
door of his neighbour's house. The 
aged Abuhissar was not at home : 
Amina came to the door, and with 
her usual good nature invited Hassan 
to step in. Hassan then discovered 
where he was, and was frightened at 
his blunder. But the thin^ could no 



79 

longer be remedied ; so he went in 
with Am in a. 

C1 Good day, Amina," said Hassan, 
at last. 

t£ I thank you, Hassan, " said 
Amina. 

Hassan and Amina had been for 
years very civil to each other, and 
Amina was always pleased when Has- 
san came. They had at all times a 
number of things to relate, and when 
they parted, there was always a some- 
thing they had forgotten. They then 
turned back to begin again their con- 
versation, and in this way, would 
sometimes take leave of each other 
three times successively before they 
could separate ; but at those times, the 
eyes of each used to be fixed upon the 
eyes of the other, and Hassan did not 
cast down his eyes before Amina, nor 
Amina her's before Hassan. 



80 
■*■ 

Hassan sat on his accustomed place, 
but he remained a long while before 
he spake ; Amina sat and spun. 

" Amina," said he, " have you 
heard, perhaps, that my brothers are 
gone into the wide world ? " 

" Into the wide world ?" 

" Aye; but I am not gone with 
them. " 

" So I see, Hassan." 

" For I have bought the land of 
them." 

" Is it possible ! and do you remain 
in Beitulsalam ? " 

" Yes, and am resolved to be, and 

to remain a farmer; and what 

was I going to say ? " 

" Indeed, Hassan, I cannot tell 
you." 

" Oh ! I was going to say, that I 
am now all alone in the house." 

" Alone! you have people enough 



81 

with you. — You are not afraid, I 
hope ? " 

44 Oh no, it is not that I am afraid. 

— I mean only 1 mean that 

I have forgotten again what I was 
going to say." 

44 As to that, Hassan, we accustom 
ourselves to every thing. You must 
learn to bear it, Hassan." 

From this moment, Hassan had not 
a word more to say. He sat and cast 
his eyes upon the ground. Amina 
continued to spin gently at her wheel. 
She looked several times in his face ; 
at first smiling as she looked, then 
bashfully, and afterwards only by 
catching a rapid glance of him. At 
length, she could not possibly cast her 
eyes upon him any longer, and her 
cheeks began to glow like a rose. 

After having plyed her wheel for a 
quarter of an hour, and more than 



82 

once broken her thread, Hassan sighed 
deeply, and then hastily sprang up. 
Amina was alarmed ; and instantly 
rose up also, and trembled as she stood. 
" Are you not well, Amina?" said he, 
catching hold of her arm, and, in doing 
this, he distinctly heard her heart beat- 
ing. He pressed her to his bosom, 
and with his cheek touched her's. 

" Are you not well, Amina?" said 
he. " Hassan, leave me," said she, 
stammering. 

" Amina, I am afraid you are not 
well ; or are you angry, perhaps ? " 

" And why should I be angry, then, 
Hassan ? " 

i; May I come again, Amina ? " 

" You may come again, but leave 
me now." 

" You speak so softly, Amina, that 
I cannot understand you." 

" Leave me, dear Hassan, but come 
again to-morrow." 



S3 

Now this is throughout all Tauris a 
custom, from time immemorial : when- 
ever a trembling stripling has held a 
stammering maiden in his arms, and, 
having pressed his cheeks on her's, the 
cheeks of both glow more and more 
fervently, and their hearts beat quicker 
and quicker; does the young man then 
ask, with a faultering voice, whether he 
may come again, and does the maiden 
then answer, with quivering lips, come 
again to-morrow: — this same " come 
again to-morrow, " is a flash of light- 
ning which runs through all his nerves, 
fires his veins* beams through his 
whole frame, and for four-and-twenty 
hours transforms him to a higher genius, 
whose earthly part is borne on the 
wings of the celestial part of him. 

The flash of lightning, " come 
again to-morrow," on a sudden sepa- 
rated the cheek of Hassan from the 



84 

cheek of Amina. Without uttering a 
word, the son of Bator, taking the 
powerless and patient Amina into his 
arms, bore her to the chair on which 
her father usually sat, and grasping her 
trembling hands, imprinted upon them 
two kisses, which were seven times 
more ardent than those he was for- 
merly obliged to press on the hands of 
the daughter of Paradise, whom he 
had seen in the dwelling of the ma- 
gician Algol. 

" I shall come, Amina, 1 shall come," 
he cried, and rushed from the house 
into the open air. 

;; Come again to-morrow," said he, 
to the shrubs and flowers which stood in 
his path; and they were far behind him. 

i; Come again to-morrow," said he, 
to the streams, as they murmuring ran 
beneath his feet ; and they vanished 
from before him. 



85 

He wandered into the beautiful 
grove which was the boundary of his 
land. He kissed the rock b}' the foun- 
tain side on which he had once plucked 
flowers with Amina ; he embraced the 
trees on which were inscribed the 
initials of her name ; he knelt down 
on the seat of turf which he had one day 
secretly raised for her: and to the rock, 
the trees, and the turf-seat, and to the 
shrubs and bushes, and to all the birds 
which could be either seen or heard, 
and to the roads and paths which he 
crossed, the bounding enthusiast ex- 
claimed, — " Leave me, dear Hassan," 
— and " Come again to-morrow." 

It was at the dusk of the evening 
that he entered his court yard. He 
immediately called his slaves together, 
and announced to them that his fields 
were henceforth to become pleasure 
gardens, and that he could therefore 



86 

no longer use any slaves. The slaves 
were alarmed, and looked at each 
other with sorrow; for Hassan was 
beloved by them all. 

" Ye are free, " he continued, " and 
may serve whom ye please ; but I 
will give all who choose to remain, 
the wages which others give to a free 
servant. But there are two things that 
I require from everyone who works for 
me ; he must be merry, and he must 
be active. Now go, fetch music, and 
if ye choose to dance till morning, 
L have nothing against it. Leave me 
now, and come again to-morrow." 

Hassan hastened to his chamber, 
and locked himself in. He sat down 
pensively, and in a few moments be- 
gan to weep bitter tears, as if some 
great calamity had befallen him. He 
threw himself on his couch, and slept 
like a demi-god who takes rest after 



87 

the enjoyment of unaccustomed bliss. 
When Hassan awoke, he found that 
the sun had already proceeded one- 
"^fourth of his course. 

" I am glad of it, " said Hassan ; " I 
should otherwise have found the morn- 
ing very tedious." 

Hassan came down. The slaves 
were all collected together to attend 
upon him. The eldest stept forward, 
and said: 

" Hassan, not one of us chooses to 
leave you. Your land shall become a 
paradise, and, that it may be soon, we 
we will instantly set about making it 
so ; and when we are once become 
active, merriment will come of itself; 
for when we are aged or afflicted, you 
will not drive us from you." 

" Oh, never ! " said Hassan, inter- 
rupting the speaker, " never, by the 
great Prophet. " 



88 

11 Yesterday we did not dance, be- 
cause we were so much alarmed; but 
to-day, ifyou permit it, we will dance." 

" With all my heart, and you are all,, 
my guests." 

" Here, then, we give you our 
hands, as a pledge that we will be 
active and merry ; and that the people 
who pass Beitulsalam in a few years 
shall be in astonishment, when they 
behold your cattle, your fields, and 
your gardens, and that we all love you 
as our best friend and father." 

" And that I love you as my chil- 
dren,'' said Hassan, embracing the 
spokesman ; and he then took from 
each of his workmen the promise which 
had been made in their name. 

" And had you but a partner," re- 
sumed the former orator, " we should 
be very happy ifyou w r ould dance with 
us." 



89 

Hassan^s cheeks glowed, and, giving 
hastily the necessary directions for the 
festival of the day, he disappeared. 
m Amina, in the mean while, sat at 
home, and had a thousand troubles. 
Every thing, as the phrase is, was at 
cross-purposes with her. At other 
times, she was dressed before it was 
thought she had even begun. This 
morning, her hands spoiled every thing 
they touched. 

Her snow-white neck handkerchief 
fell upon the ground. It is true, not a 
grain of dust could be seen ; but there 
might be one upon it, and to wear a 
dusty handkerchief was against all de- 
corum. She instantly picked out 
another, but it was her ill luck to light 
upon the most obstinate creature of an 
handkerchief that had ever been seen; 
for it suffered itself to be drawn, pulled, 
plucked, and twitched for a whole 



90 

quarter of an hour, without falling into 
a single fold, which for an instant would 
pass muster. It was absolutely neces- 
sary to make way for a third. This 
was happily the best-natured creature 
under the sun. Fold most obediently 
followed fold, and the two corners, 
which covered the sweetest twin-forms 
in all Tauris, resembled each other 
with such minute exactness, that it 
seemed as if the one half was cast in 
the mould of the other. But in this 
way it looked as if some cunning and 
toilsome art had been applied to the 
handkerchief, and people could not 
fail to comment on the vast pains 
taken about so mere a trifle. This 
would have been too unjust to be en- 
dured ; therefore, another quarter of an 
hour was spent in endeavours to cor- 
rect, with exquisite skill, the too exact 
symmetry of tiie handkerchief. At 



91 

last, however, connoisseurs would have 
«worn that the graceful flow of the 
beauteous, breathing veil, had been 
the work of a single moment ; at the 
same time that it exhibited the most 
enchanting form which an happy artist 
had ever traced in the moment of in- 
spiration. 

After a few coy ribbands, and some 
dozen intractable pins, had, with in- 
comparable patience, been reduced to 
obedience, Amina left her apartment, 
and placed herself at her spinning 
wheel. 

But there was no enduring the 
wheel. At one time it hummed till it 
made Amina's very head ache ; at ano- 
ther time, it stood awry ; now it spun 
a thread as thick as a quill, and now 
it absolutely stood motionless. Who 
could help losing her patience at last ? 
and, in fact, the gentle Amina was 



m 

obliged, every five minutes, to look 
out at the window, in order to catch a 
little fresh air. At length she resolved 
to take her wheel to pieces, in order 
to find out the reason why it should 
chance, just on this morning, to go so 
ill : and she was thus employed when 
she heard a knocking at -the door. 

Abuhissar, a lively old man of sixty 
years of age, whose good heart shone 
in his very eyes, had all the while been 
calmly smoking his pipe in his great 
chair, and watching the distresses of 
his poor child, at which he now and 
then indulged in a gentle smile. He 
arose, and, on the present occasion, 
did what was commonly done by 
Amina herself, he opened the door for 
her. It was Hassan who entered. 

Abuhissar received his neighbour 
with his usual hearty shake of the 
hand, and led him in. 



m 

Amiua, just as Hassan entered, was 
stooping down to the very ground, in 
order to pick up her two hands full of 
pieces of the wheel : her face, there- 
fore, from mere stooping, and with all 
the innocence in the world, was of a 
crimson dye when she lifted it up, and 
she had not the power to greet Hassan 
in any other way, than by offering him 
one of her little fingers. 

" Welcome, Hassan," said Abu- 
hissar, " and sit down." 

" Father Abuhissar," Hassan began ; 
but he was forced to stop, for he was 
utterly out of breath. 

" You look very warm, Hassan ; 
have you been running a great way ? " 

i s Father Abuhissar, " said Hassan 
a second time, " my brothers are gone 
into the wide world." 

" I saw 7 them go away the other day; 
and may good luck go with them into 



94 

the wide world. But you, too, are 
changed, I see." 

Now this change consisted in the 
mere circumstance, that Hassan, who 
usually wore the rustic dress of the 
humbler inhabitants of Beitulsalam, 
had this morning, by accident, put on 
the richer garments of the wealthier 
landholders of the province, so that he 
looked handsomer than ever Abuhissar 
had seen him before. 

" Father Abuhissar, n began Hassan 
a third time, and, in so doing, he placed 
himself so cunningly, that Amina could 
not possibly see his countenance, " to- 
day, 1 want good counsel from you." 

" Speak on, Hassan, and if in any 
thing I can serve you, I am at your 
command." 

At this instant a great piece of the 
wheel fell from Amina's hand, and 
rolled upon the ground. 



95 

" Father Abuhissar, I have paid my 
brothers for their share of my father's 
land, and now I am quite alone. 1 

" I wish you joy, Hassan. Much 
may be made of it." 

" But I meant to say, I am now so 
alone in my house, that I feel quite 
uncomfortably. " 

" Good Hassan," said the old man, 
smiling, " there is an easy remedy. 
You have only to saddle the best horse 
of your stable, and scour the country 
round, till you have heard of a lovely 
young girl who will make a lovely 
young' wife ; and when you have found 
such a one, then lead your horse 
courteously into the stable of her fa- 
ther, make your enquiries of him about 
wheat and barley, or about cows and 
sheep. " — - 

" And what then -}" said Hassan 
hastily. 



96 

" And then you will see whether 
the treasure be worth carrying away ; 
and if it be, you will first make enqui- 
ries of the maiden, that the father may 
not dispose of the daughter against her 
will ; and when you have agreed with 
her, you will speak to the parent." 

Now, at this very instant, Amina 
heard a knocking at the door, and rush- 
ed out with precipitation, to see who 
was there, though it happened that the 
noise was so gentle, and Abuhissar and 
Hassan were so much occupied in their 
conversation, that they heard nothing. 

" And then ? " asked Hassan*again, 
and at the same time rose from his 
seat, as if he, too, would run to see who 
was at the door. 

" And then," said Abuhissar, " the 
parent makes enquiries concerning you 
and your property, and gives you his 
daughter, and his blessing with her." 



97 

" And his blessing with her ! V ex- 
claimed Hassan ; and the words were 
no sooner out of his lips, than he was, 
in the twinkling of an eye, out of the 
door* Amina saw him, as he passed 
by her in the entry, and Abuhissar 
saw, through the window, that he ran 
into his own house. Amina came 
again into the room, and began to set 
right her wheel. Abuhissar coolly 
filled his pipe again, placed himself in 
his arm-chair, and laughed aloud at 
the impetuosity of Hassan. 

" We shall not see him for a month, " 
said he, at length, to Amina ; " but we 
may observe, at the same time, with 
what spirit he conducts his affairsJ 
Only mark my words, Amina, — his 
estate will be one day worth looking 
at." 

Amina worked so very hard, that she 
saw nothing and heard nothing, ana 

F 



98 

had still less time to answer what was 
said to her. Abuhissar continued 
smoking. 

" It is certainly true/' said he, after a 
long pause, " I have always been fond of 
him; and I thought, Amiua, that you, 
too, did not dislike him. He is a quiet, 
steady, orderly man, and I cannot say 
that I ever heard a bad word proceed 
from him." 

Amina had, during the whole time, 
been turning, screwing, and fixing her 
wheel ; and now that she looked at 
her work, she thought she had never 
heard of so vile a spinning wheel. 
Abuhissar paused again. 

* k Heaven be his guide ! M he con- 
tinued ; " he needs a brisk and notable 
manager, and I should be sorry were 
he to choose in a hurry. " 

" Father, there he is again ! and 
on horseback,' 5 exclaimed Amina, and 



99 

flung her arms round Abuhissar'sneck, 
that she might hide her face in his 
bosom. 

" Why, what is the matter with 
you, girl ? have you any thing to fear ? 
besides, I hear nothing." 

The girls of Persia, when they have 
said to a young man " come again to- 
morrow, " have, the following day, an 
inexpressibly fine hearing. Amina was 
in the right. Hassan came actually on 
horseback. He had laid the very best 
accoutrements which his father had 
left him, upon the finest steed of his 
stable. 

He stepped boldly to Abuhissar's 
front door, alighted, put his horse into 
a stable, and entered the room, booted 
and spurred. Amina continued hang- 
ing at her father's bosom, and would 
not look on him. 

" Father Abuhissar," said Hassan. 
f2 



100 

" I am come to seek for a lovely young 
girl, who will make a lovely young 
wife ; I have led my horse into your 
stable ; I am come to ask after wheat 
and barley, cows and sheep ; I shall 
accept your invitation to dinner, and I 
wish now to speak a few words with 
Amina alone. " 

Abuhissar gazed with astonishment, 
and laid down his pipe. He freed 
himself from Amina, arose, and crossed 
his arms. He opened his lips to say 
s< unething, and shut them slowly again, 
for he had nothing to say. 

Amina stood with one hand on her 
father's arm. to keep her from sinking, 
and covered both her eyes with the 
other ; probably for fear she should see 
Hassan. 

Hassan, on his part, took courage, 
stepped forward, and clasped Amina 
in his arms. 



101 

- l And your blessing with her, father 
Abuhissar!" 

Abuhissar looked, alternately, first 
on his daughter, and then on Hassan. 

" And will you go with him, Ami- 
na?" 

g As you please, dear father. " 

44 No, no, the question is, whether 
you go willingly." . 

44 You are not displeased with me, 
are you ? " 

44 Therefore, with all your heart ; is 
it not so?" 

44 What I do at all, I do with all my 
heart. " 

44 And with her my blessing," said 
Abuhissar^ placing the right hand of 
Amina in the right hand of Hassan ; 
44 and with her my blessing." 

Hassan and Amina fell on each 
other's neck, and wept, and said not a 
word. Abuhissar looked on for a few 



102 

moments, shook his head, and turned 
away, to wipe a tear from his eye. 

" But, Amina," said Abuh'issar, 
" this lad has begged a dinner from 
me, and, if you do not attend to the 
kitchen, I shall not keep my promise.*' 

" That is true/' said Hassan, " but 
a word on another subject, father Abu- 
hissar. My slaves are all become my 
free workmen, and on that account 
they have a dance to-day. They have 
invited me to it, and they expressly 
sent me out to seek a partner. I will 
take back my horse, inform them I 
have procured a partner, and I will 
then return, and be your guest to din- 
ner." ^ 

Having said this, Hassan instantly 
vanished, and Abuhissar and Amina 
stood with their eyes fixed on each 
other for a few seconds ; and then-, as 
they could not embrac^ the hare-brained 



103 

fellow who had ran from them, they em- 
braced each other in his stead. Amina 
then ran with a light heart into the 
kitchen, and Abuhissar slowly repaired 
to the court-yard to cleave wood. In 
the kitchen, Amina had the misfortune 
to break, not a few pieces of crockery- 
ware ; and in the yard, the servants of 
Abuhissar shook their heads as they 
beheld their master. 

Hassan kept his word. He came at 
the appointed time ; and, if the omni- 
potent Shah of Persia had ever been 
as cheerful over his table of an hundred 
covers, as Abuhissar, Hassan, and Ami- 
na were at their frugal board, he might 
at the end of his days have said, ' It is 
true, I have never been omnipotent, 
but I have once in my life had a good 
dinner. V 

They had scarcely risen from table, 
and Hassan was just relating that his 



104 

servants were about to come with music 
to fetch himself. Abuhissar, and his 
daughter to their dance, when one of 
them entered the room, panting for 
breath. 

" What is the matter?" said Has- 
san. 

<c Sir, an accident has happened." 

;v Where? be quick." 

" In the middle of the yard ; — an 

axle-tree is broken — snapt in two." 

" What axle-tree ? speak." 

" One belonging to a grand princess." 

"Have you all lost your senses?" 

**. Sir, our heads are a little out of 

order to-day, that is true ; but the 

princess is there notwithstanding. — • 

She had lost her way in the wood, and 

drove over the road into your fields ; — 

she is in a splendid carriage, drawn by 

eight gfeys; — she asked leave to ride 

through the vard, and, just as the car- 



105 

riage was in the middle, down it 
broke. " 

" Has any one received any injury, 
then ? " 

" Nobody but the axle-tree ; but 
that cannot be mended these twenty- 
four hours ; and she has a great body 
of people with her, and three young 
ladies with her, and twelve knights on 
horseback ; and all the knights have 
bugle-horns at their backs, or some- 
thing like them." 

" But who is she, after all?" 

" We know nothing, but that she is 
vastly condescending, and squeezes 
every body by the hand ; and then, 
sir, she is so handsome — three times 
handsomer than the three fine young 
ladies ; and, though she has a black 
silk veil over her face, we have made 
a circle round her, and would all rather 
kneel than stand ! " 



106 

u But you gave her all the help you 
could?" 

" Aye, sir, we all ran up directly, 
and she asked us a number of questions ; 
your name, and who you are, and where 
you were ; and she knows that you are 
with the young lady, and that you 
have given us our liberty, and that we 
are to fetch you in a body to dance 
with us ; — and she was so pleased to 
hear this, — and cast her eyes so up to 
heaven — if we had had no belief in 
heaven before, we should have believed 
in the one behind the veil." 

" And where does she spend the 
night ? " 

" Why, sir, that is another part of 
the business. She means to stay with 
you, and dance with you, and the 
three young ladies also ; and then we 
offered to come and fetch you, but she 
would not permit us : she said no one 



107 

ought to call a lover from his mis- 
tress." 

" Do you hear, Amina? " said Has- 
san; " the foreign princess seems really 
to have a great deal of understanding ; 
I like her already, though I have not 
seen her." 

" She has, I dare say, been a bride 
before now," said Amina ; and then 
she hid her blushing face behind the 
shoulder of Hassan. 

" I have one thing more to say* 
Hassan," said the messenger; — " she 
let me come, in order that I should tell 
you, she means to visit you here her* 
self. » 

At this instant the door opened, and 
in a trice, every one of the party drew 
back a few steps with reverence, and 
then all at the same moment dropt on 
one knee ; and yet the entire dress of 
the figure which entered, consisted in 



108 

nothing but a long white robe, a nar- 
row rose-coloured girdle, and a black 
veil which covered her face, and a part 
of the flaxen, silken hair, which, in 
rich curls, flowed down her neck and 
shoulders. 

The messenger took flight, but he 
well knew what he had said. ' They 
believed in the heaven behind the veil ;' 
for now the stranger threw back her 
veil, and Abu hiss ar, Hassan, and 
Amina fancied they beheld heaven it- 
self. 

u Arise, my children, arise, V said' 
the princess ; and she said this with 
so sweet a voice, that no one could 
possibly continue prostrate before her. 

" You see a poor traveller, whose 
carriage is broken down," said she, 
" and who must beg a lodging of some 
kind friend." 

■ Your highness will do as you 



109 

please with my house," said Hassan ; 
44 and if your attendants have not room 
enough — — " 

44 I have settled every thing, good 
Hassan," said she; " you will give 
yourself no further trouble. — But, my 
children, I have now a favour to ask 
of you all three : I have an unspeak- 
able pleasure in being with those who 
are themselves heartily pleased. " 

44 Oh, my gracious princess/' said 
Amina hastily, " ask whatever you 
please ! V 

44 And you give me your hand upon 
it, my dear girl ? " said the princess. 

44 With all my heart," said Amina, 
and gave her hand. 

44 And you, too, my good Hassan?" 

44 What Amina consents to, I always 
consent to also." 

44 And you, father Abuhissar ? " 

* 4 With all my heart," 



no 

The princess stepped to the window* 
and made a sign with a white handker- 
chief: two knights were heard to ride 
off instantly. 

" They are gone for the cadi and the 
imam, " she resinned ; " and now, as 
the bride's mother, 1 have to make 
the bridal bed. " 

The stranger, whom no one could 
withstand, then took Amina by the 
hand with a benignant smile, who went 
patiently with her, without manifest <- 
ing the least shew of resistance. Now* 
this was quite contrary to the custom 
of Persian maidens, who all, from their 
sixteenth year, are constantly remind- 
ing their mothers in secret of the bri- 
dal bed ; but, as soon as it is actually 
to be made, in the presence of the 
whole world, they then immediately 
begin to weep, and continue to shed 
tears till they are almost blind. 



in 

Abuhissar felt he knew not how, and 
began again to shake his head without 
intermission ; and Hassan stood mo- 
tionless, with his eyes fixed on the 
door through which they had disap- 
peared. 

" The more we become acquainted 
with the foreign princess," said he, 
" the more we perceive that she is 
wiser than all of us." 

Amina was accustomed to have every 
thing in order ; and the princess dis- 
played an astonishing promptitude in 
making bridal beds. Whatever she 
touched, was at once m its proper 
place ; and, before Amen could be said 
three times, they both entered the room 
again. Hassan fixed his eyes upon 
them with surprize. 

" Oh, my princess ! " said he, in a 
plaintive tone. 

" Why so?" 



112 

" You are come back much too 
soon, M said he. 

" My good Hassan, I make my bri- 
dal beds like Love. " 

" And how does Love make them }" 

" In the twinkling of an eye." 

Amina had stepped to the window, 
and probably was not listening to them. 
Hassan clasped her with his arms, and 
stooped with his cheek to her's. She 
turned her lips to his. 

Hassan gave a spring for joy. "I 
shall never forget your highness for 
this/'* said he. " Oh that my brothers 
were present here to-day ! " 

" And where are they, then ? " said 
the princess. 

" I may venture to tell you/' he 
replied ; " they are gone in search of 
the fairy Amatonda. " 

" And for what purpose, may I 
ask?" 



113 

" To be embraced by her, and be- 
come great men. " 

" And where do they seek the 
fairy?" 

" In the great world. 3 ' 

" In the great world ? " 

" Aye ; in great towns, and among 
great people." 

" Is the fairy, then, known to you 
all ? » 

" Yes, your highness, we know her 
very well. She is the most beautiful 
of all the fairies in Persia ; she must, 
therefore, at least be as handsome as 
to-day the bride-mother and the bride. 
And he who has seen her, and been 
embraced by her, lives for ever after- 
wards in the Paradise of the Prophet ; 
but she embraces no one who has not 
a good conscience, and a contented 
heart. " 



114 

" And would not your brothers take 
you with them ? " 

" I would not go with them. 5 ' 

" And why not?" 

" I feel all due respect for my lady, 
the fairy Amatonda ; but if she do not 
come to me, I shall never go in search 
of her." 

u You seem to me a saint of a very 
strange description. " 

" Any thing in the world, your high- 
ness, but no saint. I have seen some 
five or six of them at my father's, but 
they did nothing but quarrel and in- 
trigue. Whenever I see any one hang 
down his head, and be gloomy, who is 
neither sick nor unhappy, I fly from 
him, and watch his dagger." 

" But what if the fairy Amatonda 
should have a vast quantity of gold 
and jewels ? " 



I io 

w I should be ashamed of myself 
were she to offer me any." 

" Are brilliant jewels, then, of no 
value ? *' 

" Aye, truly ; but have not I, my 
princess, jewels enow in my clods of 
earth? — -I shall not have spent them 
all, these ten years ; and besides, before 
the end of the fifth year, they will 
sparkle in autumn, with more colours 
than all the fairy Amatonda's jewels 
can shew. " 

" But, then, she has gold ! " 

" Aye; but by the great prophet, 
princess,. I am myself a maker of gold 
by profession ! " 

" In a certain sense, that is true ; 
but, good Hassan, your mode is a la- 
borious one." 

" The labour is the best part of it, 
your highness ! Have the goodness, 
princess, to take the sprig of an apple- 



116 

tree, plant it, water it, and nurse it 
for ten long years, and then, for the 
first time, pluck a wretched, solitary 
apple from your tree ; and, at the same 
moment, let your neighbour come and 
present you with a beautiful pine- 
apple ; and then do honour to the 
truth, and tell me which gives you the 
most heartfelt pleasure, the pine-apple 
of your neighbour, or the miserable, 
shrivelled apple, from the petty tree 
you yourself planted. '■' 

" You are a dangerous advocate, my 

good Hassan But in case, now, the 

fairy Amatonda could raise her friends 
to high honours ? " 

" Why, then, God be praised, she 
would come too late. *' 

" Too late ! " 

" A n't please your highness, of the 
three highest honours in the world, 1 
have one ahead v ; the second I shall 



117 

possess this very day; and the third- 
let me whisper in your ear — the third 
we shall know how to provide for/' 

" We women are somewhat curious, 
good Hassan." 

" I will explain that in a minute to 
you. In the first place, I am a farmer, 
and every day in the year the Shah of 
Persia (whom God preserve) and all 
his viziers, sit at the table I furnish, 
whether they will or not ; and they 
are heartily welcome to it, and I pride 
myself upon it. So I have already the 
first highest honour." 

" And the second ? " 

t4 Why, is it not, my princess, a 
high honour, when a beautiful woman 
allows a man every day in the year to 
call her his wife ? For, if you deny 
me this, we are friends no longer ; and 
were the fairy Amatonda here, I would 
say the very same thing to her face, ,r 



US 

" Let Amina reward you for this, 
my good Hassan : and now for the 
third highest honour ?" 

" Nay, nay, your highness, I have 
promised to be upon my good beha- 
viour ; and though it is the most inno- 
cent thing in the world, yet " 

" I will answer for you, Hassan, 
Say what it is." 

" My gracious princess, whenever 1 
chance to fall among a dozen little 
boys and girls, we are, in an instant, 
one heart and one soul — and what 
one of us does not know, the other 
does ; and so we are never able to se- 
parate. — Indeed, indeed, I dare say 
no more, for I stand under discipline." 

"This, Hassan, I must reward you 
for myself; " and saying this, the prin- 
cess on a sudden clasped Hassan in 
her arms, and kissed him three times 
on the lips. 



119 

u Now, Amina, has he deserved 
nothing ? " 

Amina flew into the arms of Hassan, 
and kissed him as the princess had 
kissed him. 

" You need not wait now for Ama- 
tonda's embrace, my dear Hassan ; she 
has embraced you ; and your dwelling 
may now be the resort of pilgrims, for 
it is the abode of the blessed. " 

" See, now, my gracious princess, 
you will confess yourself that I want 
no lady-fairies. Madam Amatonda, 
who lives in the clouds, need not 
trouble herself to come down on my 
account ; but after my Amatonda of 
the spinning-wheel, I shall still travel 
many a pleasant step. — And one 
word more, my princess, wait only 
ten years, and then you shall see won- 
ders." 

? I may, therefore, ask for a night's 



120 

lodging, whenever I pass through Bei- 
tulsalam again ?" 

" Do, Amina, speak a good word 
for us to our noble bride-mother, that 
she do not again ask us questions 
which make the flesh creep on one's 
bones." 

A noise was now heard. The cadi 
and the imam entered the apartment. 
They were venerable old men, with 
long silvery beards. They bowed down 
to the earth when they beheld the 
majestic figure of the princess, and 
remained at a respectful distance. 

" Are you already instructed in your 
office, ye venerable ministers of the 
law ? n asked the princess. 

* Whoever you may be, princess," 
answered the cadi, " we are instructed, 
and we wait your command." 

" Hasten, then, to discharge your 
functions, and be this day our guests. 



121 

— Abuhissar as bride-father, and my- 
self as bride-mother, hereby give this 
maiden to this youth, as his lawful 
wife." 

Hassan and Aminagave their assent- 
ing yes with alacrity, to the interroga- 
tories of the cadi ; Abuhissar and the 
princess laid their two hands together; 
the cadi wrote a few lines ; the imam 
pronounced his blessing ; and the 
happy Hassan became the husband of 
the happy Araina. 

'* I have gold and jewels in abun- 
dance, w said the princess, as she em- 
braced them both ; "but I am too 
poor to make you a wedding present." 

At this moment, the messenger 
entered again, who had before an- 
nounced the arrival of the princess. 

" Oh, sir, more strange things have 
happened ! " and he could scarcely speak 
for weeping. 

G 



122 

41 Be quick; what is it?" said 
Hassan, alarmed. 

" I do not know whether I may say, 
in this company." 

44 My good man," said the princess, 
" you may go on with your story." 

" Why, sir, it has not stopped at 
the twelve." 

" At what twelve?" 

" The twelve knights on horseback, 
with the bugle-horns." 

44 What then ? " 

44 There are four-and-twenty more of 
them now ; and our own musicians 
have thrown their pipes and their flutes 
aside, and are bent on dancing, them- 
selves; and every body in the whole 
house has been crying for joy this half 
hour." 

44 And why so? do make an end of 
your story." 

44 Dear sir, whenever any two of 



123 

them come blowing their bugles, they 
bring a whole village from the neigh- 
bourhood with them. Man, woman, 
and child, master and servant, all come 
together ; and the old ones come hob- 
bling on their crutches, and the mothers 
bring their children at the breast ; and 
they are all waiting yonder in the 
great meadow. — And there are come, 
also, a number of waggons full of wine 
and sweetmeats, — and the three fine 
young ladies are distributing them to 
all the people, that they may be able 
to hold out in the dancing; — and such 
a feast was never seen. — And every 
house in Beitulsalam is empty, save 
your house and this house; — and 
whoever hears the music must go and 
join them ; and I must go and join 
them again, too I" 

He then ran off, and an ancient ser- 
vant of the princess, probably her 
g2 



f*4 

house-steward, entered, and announced 
that every thing was ready. 

" My good Hassan," said the prin- 
cess, " I am fond of music, and all 
my people are musical ; and, as I can 
do nothing else for you, 1 have at least 
provided you music for to-da\ r ; and 
if your marriage-feast is not splendid, 
I hope it will, at all events, be merry: 
and you, Omar, may now give the 
signal." 

The old man went out, and an instant 
afterwards the music was heard. It 
approached from Hassan's house, and 
a long, long train followed it. Hassan's 
people were the first who came, and 
all Beitulsalam had come with them. 
The bride-mother, Hassan, and Amina 
joined the procession, and walked fore- 
most. Abuhissar, the cadi, and the 
imam were on the second row. Every 
eye beamed with joy; but they walked 



125 

slowly, and without uttering a word. 
Such heavenly music had never been 
heard. They all trod on the ground as if 
they were fearful of losing a note of it. 

The train arrived at the entrance of 
the great meadow : it was a spacious 
and smooth plain. The foreign visitors 
of all ages had formed a wide circle, 
and stood on tip-toe, eager to behold 
those who were advancing ; and, when 
these were arrived, they opened the 
circle witlr reverence, and received 
the train among them. The twelve 
knights, who led on the procession, 
joined in the centre the four-and-twen- 
ty, who had been entertaining the visi- 
tors on the meadow. 

It was one of the sweetest evenings 
of spring : not a breeze stirred. The 
sun had but a quarter of his course to 
pursue. 

" The dance of the fairy Amaton- 



226 

da," — exclaimed the princess, ad- 
dressing herself to the musicians, and 
at the same time she took Hassan's 
hand. 

At once the music sprang up, and 
notes were heard, the like of which 
had never pierced mortal ear through- 
out all Persia, nor had ever entered 
the heart of man ; and the princess 
and Hassan danced together the dance 
of the fairy Amatonda. 

Now, this dance of the fairy Ama- 
tonda, was nothing else than the inar- 
tificial dance which is incessantly 
danced in this western country, as far 
as can be beheld from the observatory 
at Seeberg. — It was the dance which 
couples eternal simplicity with never- 
ending variety ; — the dance which the 
moon keeps up with the earth, the 
earth with the planets, and the planets 
with the sun— -which pairs intimacy 



127 

and innocence, and delight and joy 
with sadness. It is the dance of 
joy and love ; for it is the dance of 
nature ! 

The Persian maidens dance it to 
this day with the Persian youths. Four 
arms constitute a world : every world 
forms a circle. Every world turns 
round itself, and every world turns 
round the chorus, which, from its 
centre, gives the law to its movement. 

The Persian maidens call this the 
dance of Amaionda ; and they dance 
it in such a wise, that it has never yet 
blown away the roses from their 
cheeks, or breathed a creeping poison 
into their bosom. It is sometimes 
imitated out of Persia, and this imita- 
tion is called f das laexdernj Laeu- 
dering.* .But it is often danced too 

* Laendering is a slow and graceful mode of 
dancing the Walz. It is no unusual thing to- 



228 

quickly, and is never mixed with sing- 
ing. 

The princess had scarcely turned a 
dozen times round with Hassan, when 
no individual could any longer resist 



begin the dance by laendering a few minutes ; 
after which, by gradually and imperceptibly 
quickening the music, the most rapid movements 
of the ordinary walz are produced. This dance, 
as the English reader knows, from description 
at least, consists in the two-fold circular motion, 
which the author, with no forced similitude, 
has compared to the movements of the planetary 
system ; viz. each couple, having clasped each 
other, turn round incessantly, and, at the same 
time, make the circuit of the room. For no 
adequate reason, this dance stands in evil repute 
in these islands, though probably practised in 
every other country in Eurcpe. The translator 
at least, has seen it performed with equal spirit, 
and he hopes with equal innocence, in the most 
northernly provinces of Germany, and in the 
warm climate of Spain. T. 



129 

the music. The children of a year's 
age, who began but yesterday to stand 
alone, wound their way from the 
bosoms of their mothers, stretched 
out their little arms to other children, 
lifted up one foot after the other, and 
laendered. The mothers were glad 
that their children could find an occu- 
pation, and, each holding out her 
arms to a neighbour, laendered also. 
The children of eighty years of age 
cautiously drew close to the musicians, 
laid their crutches on a heap, and 
laendered. And Abuhissar, and the 
cadi, and the imam laendered; and the 
boys and the girls, the young men and 
the young women, ail, all laendered ; 
and there was no one who did not 
laender, save the six-and-thirty who 
played on the horns, and the sucklings 
who slept to the music. And those 
who were passing on the road heark- 
g ^ 



130 

ened, and then came near, and forgot 
their journey, and laendered. And 
the children of eighty years laendered 
in the innermost circle, round the mu- 
sic, and next them laendered the chil- 
dren of one year, and the children of 
ten years next to them ; and all the 
other children laendered promiscuously 
in the outward circle; and all four 
circles laendered as gently, as if they 
feared to awaken the sucklings ; and., 
besides the celestial notes which set 
every one in motion, nothing was 
heard but the gentle and uniform steps 
of the dancers, and the soft fluttering 
of their garments. And he who had 
a word to say to his partner, whispered 
it softly in her ear; and she who had 
an answ r er to give, gave the answer in 
like manner. But never before had so 
many sighs died away upon a meadow, 
never before had so many tears sparkled 



\3i 

in an evening sun ; and yet they had 
never felt themselves so innocent and 
so happy. 

The sun went down ; and they looked 
at him, and laendered. The full-moon 
arose from behind a grove, and stared 
with her broad face upon the meadow, 
on which every one was laendering, 
as well as herself. The dancers from 
the meadow turned up their moist and 
beaming eyes to her, and joyfully laen- 
dered on. She arose higher; and every 
one laendered. She reached her highest 
point ; and every one laendered, and 
laendered, and laendered ! — — — — 

Now, here it is impossible to think 
otherwise, than that the Persian his- 
torian, who first related this tale, 
must at this place have risen up, he 
and all his pupils together, to laender 
with his fair hearers ; for, on this very 



132 

spot, the thread of the narrative is 
broken. 

It is, to be sure, easy enough to 
conceive, how an honest man may 
throw every thing aside, in order to 
dance with a Persian maiden the dance 
of the fairy Amatonda ; but it is abso- 
lutely inconceivable, to him who knows 
the Persian maidens, and their zeal for 
self-improvement, how they could let 
the relator of this history go from the 
spot, without at least knowing whether 
the cadi and the imam went to bed all 
night ! 

Be this as it may, we can no where 
find the least intelligence, whether 
the cadi or imam, or in general, whether 
any one soul in Beitulsalam, slept on 
the night of Hassan and Amina's mar- 
riage. For the relator of this tale here 
breaks off this part of his history, and 
never returns to it ; and, for this once, 



135 

therefore, the burning anxiety of the 
Persian maidens to instruct them- 
selves, was outweighed by their love 
of dancing. 



134 



Hassan's brothers, on leaving Bei- 
tulsalam, travelled together to the 
capital of the adjoining province of 
Persia, in order to equip themselves for 
■ their further journies; and, as soon as 
their arrangements were all made, they 
embraced each other and separated, 
each With his several attendants: the 
one to the south, the other to the east, 
and the third to the west. 

The poet Selim clapped spurs to his 
steed, and posted towards the empire 
of the great Mogul. Murad suffered 
his horse to cut all kinds of capers, as 
he pranced through the suburbs which 
led to the kingdom of Cashmire; and, 
while he went along,- greeted, with 
courtesy, all the people of distinction, 
whom the achievements of his steed 



135 

had drawn to their windows. Solmar, 
absorbed in deep contemplation, rode 
gently through the gate which led to 
the country of the Osmans. Their 
hearts were all swelling with hope ; 
and each said to himself, that, when 
arrived at the place of his destination, 
he would assume a different character. 
Solmar had already made eight days 5 
journey, having with him six horses, 
a servant, and two grooms, when he 
arrived at a village which lay in ashes, 
and was deserted by its inhabitants. 
He proceeded further, and came to a 
second village, also in ashes, and aban- 
doned. He came to a third ; it was, 
in like manner, a heap of smoking 
ruins ; and he saw a venerable old 
man, sitting upon a stone by the side 
of his horse, apparently sunk in medi- 
tation upon the gloomy scene around 
him. 



136 

u Who burnt these villages ? " said 
Solmar to the old man. 

" The Monguls, my son." 

" You mean the Osmans." 

" I mean the Monguls." 

" Is Persia, then, at war with the 
Monguls?" 

" The Monguls are the Shah's allies 
against the Osmans." 

" Do the Shah's allies burn his vii* 
lages }" 

" And why not ? Are not allies to 
have any pleasures in reward of their 
services ? ° 

44 And do the Persians suffer this ? u 

" They must; the Monguls would 
otherwise be offended with them. " 

" And the omnipotent Shah endures 
it?" 

" He must." 

" How so ! Why, /, such a one 
as I am, would not submit to this ; 



137 

and shall the omnipotent Shah of Per- 
sia be forced to it ? " 

" He must; the Khan of the Mon- 
guls would otherwise resent it. " 

" Resent it ! and how ? by burning 
his villages ? ? ' 

" But if he were, besides that, to 
be his enemy?" 

" Besides that! that is, be his enemy 
besides burning his villages ! Oh that 
I was Shah for only one year ! " 

" And what would you then do ? " 

" Bid defiance to his resentment ! " 

11 The Monguls have ravaged all 
China and the Indies." 

" I would bid defiance to his resent- 
ment ! " 

" Every one trembles at the name 
of the Monguls. " 

" I would bid defiance to his resent- 
ment ! " 

" And who are you, my son ? " 



W)8 

i4 Solmar, the son of Bator." 

44 The great merchant of Basra ? " 

u And afterwards a husbandman 
at Beitulsalam." 

44 And whither are you going ? " 

44 To the frontiers, against the Gs- 
mans. " 

44 My son, on this road you aviII 
find no provisions ; spend this night 
with me, at the distance of half a day's 
journey : I desire to speak further with 
you."' 

44 And what is your name, my good 
old man ? " 

" My name is Cosru ; and the vizier, 
to whose army you are repairing, is 
the seventh since my fall." 

i; Holy Prophet ! and you were 
grand vizier ? " 

44 And have lived contentedly for 
these twelve years, since I was ba- 
nished from Ispahan. I have a daughter 



139 

and a grand-daughter, who are still 
left to nurse me ; and a cottage and 
garden, which maintains me. I heard 
of the horrid deeds committed by the 
allied troops, and I repaired hither, 
that I might behold their devastations 
with my own eyes." 

The old man mounted his horse, and 
they rode away. Towards the close 
of the day, they reached an ascent, 
from which they had an uninterrupted 
prospect into an extensive plain. 

" Cosru," exclaimed Solmar, " I 
see, at the end of yonder plain, two 
female figures. " 

" Are they dressed in white ?" 

" In white ; and, as it seems, with 
dark flowing locks. " 

" That is my daughter Sahire, with 
her Lilly, a girl of thirteen years of 
age ; they are come to meet me." 

" What is that r At the end of the 



140 

wood I behold four horsemen ; they 
are not Persians. " 

" Great God ! they are Monguls." 

Solmar's steed flew across the plain ; 
but the distance was too remote. — Sa- 
hire was still struggling; Lilly's gar- 
ment was already half torn, and they 
had sunken in despair upon the ground, 
when Solmar reached the monsters. 

" Hold ! " he exclaimed ; and the 
head of the foremost rolled upon the 
turf. 

" Turn hither, wretches! " he cried 
out again ; and the first blow cleaved 
one head in twain ; with the second, he 
carried off a head and one shoulder; 
and with the third, he smote the fourth 
Mongul in halves. 

Sahire and Lilly had scarcely suf- 
ficient strength remaining, to throw 
themselves at the feet of their deliverer, 
clasp his hands, and bathe them with 



m 

their silent tears. Solmar raised them 
up, with tokens of reverence, and de- 
livered them into the hands of Cosru, 
who was hastening to the spot. 

" See, father Cosru, yonder lie the 
invincibles. — He who has not hitherto 
trembled before them, needs never do 
it!" 

They hastened to search the bodies 
of the slain. Three heavily-laden pack- 
horses stood near. Their burthens con- 
sisted of nothing less precious than 
gold. Each of the robbers had a trea- 
sure of jewels in his belt ; and the belt 
of the chief of them contained papers 
worth more than all the gold and jew- 
els. The villain was a confidant of the 
Mongul general, who had sent him with 
secret dispatches to the Khan. Solmar 
read one of the papers aloud.— 

" Most high and mighty sovereign 
of the globe ! Monarch of monarchs, 



142 

and sovereign of sovereigns ! under thy 
footsteps the nations rejoice, for thou 
art the sun of wisdom, and the deli- 
verer of the earth ! 

" The most worthless of thy slaves 
executes thy sacred commands ; and 
three provinces of thy ally lie already 
in ashes. Thy army riots in pleasure. 
We have glorious fire-works every 
night ; and the women and daughters 
of the land are beauteous, when they 
wander naked and houseless. Thy army 
delights in comforting them ! 

" Thy slave hopes to produce a ge- 
neral insurrection against the Shah. 
The Shah will fly for refuge to thy 
slave. Thy army will re-establish or- 
der, and thy slave will lay all Persia at 
thy feet. 

" Thy army spares the Osmans, as 
thou hast commanded them. They lay 
waste whatever they touch ; and they 



143 

are, though ignorantly, the ministers of 
thy holy will. From Persia, the wings 
of thy grace may, in due time, be 
spread over them also ; and all the 
countries of Asia will resound with thy 
eternal name ; and all the seas will an- 
nounce thy glory ; and thy slave will 
cut out every tongue which does not 
exclaim Amen ! " 

They all stood mute with horror at 
the detested writing. 

" No ; by Allah ! " exclaimed Sol- 
mar, and thrice waved his sword over 
his head ; " No Amen shall ever be 
uttered to the impious sound." 

Cosru took from each the oath of 
secrecy. They collected the booty ; 
and, having mounted their horses, 
hastened to Cosru^s dwelling. 

Cosru and Solmar shut themselves 
up in the inner apartment. They spent 
the night in examining the remaining 



144 

papers. Ten of the most powerful fa* 
milies of Ispahan stood in open league 
with the Monguls. Some of the first 
officers of the empire, the three chief 
eunuchs, and even the grand vizier 
himself, had at least accepted presents 
from them. 

" We harness the two mules of Is- 
pahan," was written in one place, op- 
posite to an account of jewels, which 
had been paid away ; and beneath was 
added, " These are to be unharnessed 
hereafter. It is disgusting to pay court 
to such despicable creatures. But the 
good cause requires a sacrifice now and 
then. The camel of Ispahan is some- 
what costly to maintain ; but in six 
months he is ours, with saddle and 
accoutrements, and we shall have the 
stable into the bargain." 

Now the two mules of Ispahan were, 
as it appeared from the same papers, 



Us 

ike sultana-mother, and the favourite 
sultana Biribi. The general of the 
Monguls had presented them with 
ear-rings and bracelets. The camel 
of Ispahan was the Shah himself, who 
had been bribed by a casket of dia- 
monds. The Shah, it was also inti- 
mated, stood under the government of 
those two women. He ate^ drank, 
and slept ; and had no other passion 
than that of playing, from morning to 
evening, with precious stones. 

ff Let us hasten to Ispahan, my 
son;" cried Cosru. " We have two 
offended women on our side, and are 
therefore omnipotent. Long live the 
Shah ! Persia is saved. - } 

At the close of the fourth evening, 
Solmar, accompanied by an Armenian, 
had reached the guard of the castle at 
Ispahan. They exhibited some superb 
diamonds for sale ; and, by distributing 

H 



146 

pieces of gold with both hands, were 
immediately admitted into the pre- 
sence of the Shah. 

The Shah soon perceived, among the 
treasures of the merchants, a jewel, 
the like of which he had never seen. 
The joy he felt was indescribable ; and 
he instantly sent for the sultana-mother, 
and the sultana Biribi, Solmar en- 
gaged the attention of the Shah. The 
Armenian gradually drew the two prin- 
cesses to a corner of the apartment. 

M 1 have a piece here," whispered 
the Armenian to the sultanas, " which 
is worth precisely as much as the 
Persian empire. Do you know this 
writing ? " 

64 That is the hand -writing of the 
Mongul general/' said the sultana- 
mother. 

" And a charming man he is," added 
the sultana Biribi ; " we are well ac~ 



147 

quainted with his hand-writing, and 
know it from a distance." 

The Armenian presented the gene- 
ral's account-book, in which the charm- 
ing man had written the above lines. 
The two princesses perused them with 
eagerness at the same moment ; and 
the shock they received from the con- 
tents was so great, that they both 
swooned, and sank to the ground. 
The Armenian bore the sultana-mother 
to one sofa, and Solmar, the sultana 
Biribi to another. They had antici- 
pated the effect of the letters upon the 
weak nerves of the ladies, and had 
brought strong odours with them. 

<; It is of no importance," said the 
sultan, with great composure. " It 
will soon be over, and goes away of 
itself; but so precious a jewel as this, 
I never saw. Biribi, let the room be 
darkened, and let twelve wax tapers 
H 2 



14b 

be brought in. I must compare it 
with others. By the holy beard of the 
Prophet, I never saw the like!" 

" Sire ! " said the Armenian, and 
gave the Shah the letters of the Mon- 
gul general to his Khan, " the like of 
this, too, thou hast never seen." 

" O yes, old man ; that is written 
by my good friend, the general of the 
Monguls. I have a whole packet of 
them." 

" But, sire, not to the same pur- 
port ; deign to peruse it." 

The Shah read the paper. His terror 
was no less than that of the sultanas, 
and he also fainted away. 

The fair Biribi was the first who 
recovered. She clasped the beautiful 
Soimar in her arms, and pressed him 
to her bosom. 

" Guardian^angel of Persia, what is 
to be done ? " 



149 

sc Beautiful Biribi ; let us first 
shut the door. I have more such 
jewels ! " 

The door was shut; but the fair 
Biribi was in so great alarm, that she 
did not once let the beautiful Solmar 
from her arms. The Armenian at 
length brought the Shah to himself; 
and, after a great deal of trouble, the 
sultana-mother also. The Shah, when 
he was recovered, could not utter a 
word ; the sultana-mother spake of no- 
thing but the camel of Ispahan and 
the two mules ; and the fair Biribi 
spake of nothing but the two guardian- 
angels of Persia, one of whom she 
held in her arms. 

The Armenian now related how they 
had come into the possession of these 
papers ; and Solmar was pressed so 
closely, that he could scarcely breathe. 
The Armenian read the other papers ; 



150 

and Solmar was implored, by burning 
lips which were fixed on his cheek, 
to rescue, protect, and save them. 

" Oh, my children/' said the Shah 
at length, and began to weep aloud, U I 
am then, indeed, betrayed. Do none 
of you know what is to be done ? " 

" Sire," said the Armenian, " thou 
hast still an aged, faithful servant left, 
whom, twelve years ago, thou sentest 
into banishment from Ispahan. He 
has been happy in his solitude ; but 
give him, for only eighteen months, 
full power to act in thy name; promise 
him that, at the end of that period, if 
Persia is in safety, thou wilt allow 
him to return to his solitude — and he 
is ready to save thee and Persia." 

" Yes, old man," said the Shah, 
44 here is my hand and my word. He 
shall come, and be grand-vizier with 
unlimited power ; and, after eighteen 



151 

months, he may retire whithersoever 
he pleases." 

The sultana-mother now fell on the 
Armenian's neck, and protested he 
should not leave her till the new 
grand-vizier was come into the apart- 
ment. The sultana Biribi threatened 
the same to the handsome Solmar. The 
Armenian took off a patch which dis- 
guised his face. The sultana-mother 
started with surprise. 

" Thy slave Cosru is thy grand-vi- 
sier, " said the Armenian ; and he 
threw himself at the feet of the 
Shah, and kissed the hem of his gar- 
ment. 

ft And has forgotten all that befel 
him twelve years ago/' he added, and 
he squeezed the hand of the sultana- 
mother, who was well pleased at this 
sign of reconciliation. 

44 The moments are precious," he 



1.52 

added; " I shall leave you, and lock 
the door." 

" We shall not depart from the 
spot," said the fair Biribi ; and she sat 
elose to Sohnar. 

Cosru took the emperor's seal, and 
shut the door. In a short time, a run- 
ning to and fro, and the trampling of 
horses, and the noise of carriages was 
heard, in the court of the palace. It 
became night. The Shah of Persia sat 
without light, and the guardian-angel 
of Persia sat without breath ! The fair 
Biribi was so terribly afraid of being in 
the dark, that she continued to weep ; 
and one hot tear after another fell on 
the cheek of Solmar. The sultana- 
mother sat at the open window, and 
looked out y though it was utter darkness. 
Only she now and then muttered some- 
thing about mules, and harnessing, and 
unharnessing ; and she did not move 



153 

when the Shah began to sleep aloud.* 
The terror of the fair Biribi encreased 
so greatly, that she now, with one of 
her arms, clasped the neck of the 
guardian -an gel, to make sure of t him 
at least ! He continued, in fact, awake. 
But the terror of the fair Biribi was 
contagious. The Shah, it is true, slept 
as loud as any sultan ever did; but 
it was, notwithstanding, an easy thing 
to hear the beating of the heart, both 
of the sultana and the guardian-angel ; 
and even if this could not have been 
heard, their fearful situation might still 
have been ascertained, by the sighs 



* Ueberlaut zu schlafen. The English reader 
will, perhaps, readily excuse this Germanism, 
which is surely more elegant, as well as ingeni- 
ous, than snore. Translators might, if they 
dared, enrich their native idiom, by such adop- 
tions from all languages. T. 

H 5 



154 

that came from them : and though 
people, who are afraid of ghosts, on 
other occasions, sing to keep up their 
spirits, these, in their anxious fears, 
spake not a word. 

It was a happy circumstance that 
the grand-vizier, at length, unlocked 
the door. He was followed by wax 
tapers and writing materials. 

" Sire," said Cosru, as he entered, 
u the palace is in trusty hands ; and 
within half an hour, the city, too, will 
be in safety. You may sleep this night 
in security." 

The Shah sat, with his head fallen 
backwards, and answered not a word, 

" The Shah has confidence in you, 
grand-vizier," said the fair Biribi, " and 
foresaw that he might sleep securely." 

" The Shah does me great honour, 
your highness." 

Cosru then caused the Shah to be 



. 155 

carried quietly to bed, and begged the 
two sultanas to retire to rest. After 
they had departed, a great deal was 
dictated and written, Solmar, too, 
was forced to write with the others, 
but he made a number of mistakes ; 
and, had any one examined his writing 
closely, he might have, more than 
once, detected the name of Biribi half 
blotted from his paper. At the break 
of day, the new commander of the 
body-guard entered, and announced 
that all the decreed arrests had been 
carried into effect ; and that the strong 
posts in the city were beset. Cosru 
signed his mandates. They were seal- 
ed ; and, having dispatched his mes- 
sengers, be dismissed his secretaries, 
that they might retire to rest. 

Cosru threw himself on a sofa, and 
slept quietly. Solmar laid himself at 
full length upon another sofa, and did 



u6 

not sleep at all. It was the very same 
sofa on which the fair Biribi and him- 
self had been so terribly frightened. 
But it was not the sofa's fault ; for the 
fair Biribi lay in a bed, and yet did not 
sleep. In six hours time, Solmar was, 
with Cosru, on the way to the army, 
which was encamped against the Os» 
mans. 

Cosru took the grand-vizier, and 
some other of the generals, into cus- 
tody, and placed himself at the head 
of the army. He came at a critical 
moment. He found the collected army 
highly incensed ; and their zeal, once 
roused, could easily be turned against 
the enemy. Cosru's predecessor had 
sent one of his principal commanders 
to the general of the Monguls, in or- 
der to remonstrate with him on the 
outrages committed against the Per- 
sians, and the burning of their villages. 



167 

The Mongul threatened the Persian 
general with chastisement, unless he 
left his camp instantly ; and the next 
day he published a proclamation, by 
beat of drum, that any Persian who 
injured but a hair of the head of the 
lowest retainer of the Mongul army, 
should be treated as an enemy to the 
good cause. 

A private Mongul soldier had seized 
a young Persian woman in her apart- 
ment. He stifled her cries ; and her 
child, who was near, screamed out for 
help. The soldier rushed towards the 
child, — and it lay dead at his feet. 
The woman escaped, and fled for suc- 
cour to the soldier's officer. He or- 
dered her to be driven out of the camp 
with derision ; and her dead child was 
thrown upon the field, to be the prey 
of the fowls of the air. Her husband 
came home, procured a certificate of 



I5S 

the fact from the Persian governor, and 
hastened with it to the Mongul gene- 
ral, who delivered the following judg- 
ment. — 

" The Khan is the vicegerent of 
God ; the general, and the kings, and 
the sovereigns of the world, are the 
vicegerents of the Khan ; and the of- 
ficers are the vicegerents of the gene- 
ral ! The Persian, who, on account of 
an insignificant occurrence, has com- 
plained of an officer to his general, is 
to receive one hundred lashes ; and the 
Persian governor, who granted him the 
certificate, is to make an apology to the 
officer, or be sent in chains to the ge^ 
neral ! " 

The man, consequently, received his 
hundred lashes; and the governor made 
his apology. 

This event was known over-night to 
the whote Persian armv ; and the fol- 



i.59 

lowing morning, the whole army had 
but one soul. Cosru called a council 
of war. Solmar stood behind Cosru, 
and held sealed papers in his hand. 
The council did not last long. 

" Long live the Shah of Persia ! " 
began Cosru. 

" And confusion to the Monguls !"' 
answered the eldest of the officers. 

" Confusion to the Monguls ! 5? re- 
peated all the other officers, and their 
eyes flashed with rage. 

" The Khan enters on his seventieth 
year the day after to-morrow. The ge- 
neral has made a requisition of brandy^ 
and gives a feast to his men. We are 
four days' march from head-quarters ; 
but to-morrow night we shall be of the 
party.'* 

Cosru retired. Solmar delivered his 
sealed instructions, with expressions of 



160 

regard, to every one of the officers ; and 
the council was dissolved. 

Before an hour had elapsed, nothing 
but the sharpening of swords was heard. 
All who were permitted to go to the 
feast, moistened them with tears of 
joy ; and all who could not go, moist- 
ened them with tears of sorrow. In 
four hours 5 time, twenty-five thousand 
visitors were furnished with horses, 
and whatever they wanted for the two 
succeeding days ; and in five hours' 
time, they were on their march upon 
more than ten of the high roads of the 
country. Cosru commanded the cen- 
tre. Solmar commanded a thousand 
volunteers in the van. 

The guides were excellent, and the 
party unanimous. The guests arrived 
at their place of destination in due 
time; but they could not have been 



161 

more unexpected. The general of the 
Monguls was sitting in his loose robes, 
drunk, at the head of a plentiful table, 
and all the company were drunk also. 

" Liberty and justice! V exclaimed 
Solmar to his volunteers. " The day 
of vengeance ! " roared a thousand Per- 
sians ; and this was the watch-word of 
destruction. The heads of many of 
the guests who sat at the table, w 7 ere 
scattered among the golden vessels 
which had been stolen. The general 
bellowed for rage, and seized a golden 
goblet to defend himself. 

" Monster ! " exclaimed Solmar, and 
the monster lay in two halves at his 
feet. One half consisted of the gnash- 
ing head, the smoking neck, and the 
right arm, which still grasped the gob- 
let. 

After this evening, not a man was 
to be seen, who could say, 4 I was a 



1 62 

bidden guest at the Mongul general's 
feast ; ' for one half of the robbers, who 
were already asleep, continued to sleep 
on ; and the other half, which had not 
slept, began their sleep for ever ! 

The booty was immense ; but the 
Persians had, on the morning of the 
same day, sworn, of their own accord, 
that they would devote one half of it 
to the re-building of the smoking vil- 
lages of their country, and securing its 
passes against the Monguls. 

On the next day, the army divided 
itself to the right and left. Cosru ap- 
peared unexpectedly in the rear of the 
right wing of the Monguls, and Sol- 
mar in the rear of the left wins:. The 
Persians every where came unlooked- 
for; and, in a week, not a Mongul 
was to be seen on the territory of Per- 
sia. The few scattered bodies which 
fled towards the Osmans, were cut in 



163 

pieces by them ; and those who at- 
tempted to return home, were slaugh- 
tered by the Persians : for, the first or- 
ders which Cosru issued, when he left 
the apartment of the Shah with his 
privy seal, was to secure the mountain- 
passes through which the Monguls had 
to escape. 

A thousand messengers announced, 
through all the provinces of the Persian 
empire, the day of vengeance which 
had been kept ; and all the provinces 
resounded with the names of Cosru 
and Solmar. In every town and vil- 
lage, the people were seen dancing for 
joy. Enemies were reconciled, and 
strangers fell on each other's necks. 

The command of the grand-vizier, 
that an hundred thousand men should 
instantly enter the mountains, and for- 
tify the passes, was carried into effect, 
with songs, and shouts of triumph. 



1(>4 

The women held up their babes to 
their husbands, and looked towards the 
Mongul mountains. The men seized 
their arms and their tools, and hastened 
away. The maidens, laying their hands 
on their bosoms, pointed with their 
fingers to the mountains, and the young 
men departed from them without tak- 
ing leave. 

" Freedom and justice!" was the 
morning shout of the workmen who 
were fortifying the passes. " The day 
of vengeance!" was the invariable an- 
swer. 

The Khan of the Monguls, the so- 
vereign of sovereigns, did not know 
that so much as a hair of the head 
of any of the meanest of his subjects 
had been touched, when a hundred 
and fifty thousand of his enemies, the 
Persians, had returned with triumph, 
from the completion of their works of 



W6 

defence on the mountains. After a 
month, the Khan heard one half of 
the affair, and he, by degrees, guessed 
the other half. He cried for rage, 
and his courtiers cried with him. He 
drank brandy to inflame his fury ; and 
one evening was found dead, amid 
those who had, with him, been cursing 
the Persians and mankind. 

The fortifications on the mountain- 
paths, which led into Persia, were com- 
pleted. The Monguls, who were ac- 
customed to repair on horseback to 
pillage and murder, stood in dread of 
narrow passes, which were open only 
to travellers on foot, and which were 
guarded by resolute defenders ; and 
Persia did not, after that time, see her 
rich plains laid waste by. them. 

The kings of Asia recovered from 
their blind superstition. They ceased 
considering the Monguls as omnipo- 



166 

tent ; and they therefore ceased to be 
omnipotent. The writings which Sol- 
mar had seized were published through- 
out the empire by Cosru ; and hence- 
forth, whoever proposed to any of the - 
Asiatic kings to make a treaty with 
the Monguls, was cast into irons ; and 
whoever accepted a present from the 
Monguls, lost his head. And when 
the Khan of the Monguls issued a 
command to any of the kings, the an- 
swer he received was, " I will not ! " 
and that was the end of the business. 
But had not Solmar said to Cosru, that 
they only were formidable who were 
feared, Persia would have been laid 
waste, and the kings of Asia would 
have trembled before a horde of Mon- 
guls. 

Solmar received orders to cross Per- 
sia with the 10,000 men who had an- 
nihilated the left wing of the banditti s 






167 

accordingly, he entered the southern 
provinces, to attack the right, wing of 
the Osmans. Solmar and his 10,000 
men crossed the land with rapidity. 
They had but lately known him; yet 
he was beloved by them as a brother, 
and feared by them as a father. He 
spoke little, but he watched every 
thing. He provided first for them, 
and then for himself; but he tolerated 
no disorders in others, as he commit- 
ted none himself. What he command- 
ed was sometimes hard to execute ; 
but he commanded nothing that was 
not carried into effect, and he took the 
hardest part of the enterprise upon 
himself. They all knew that he was 
the real saviour of Persia. They knew 
that it was he who had slain the four 
robbers, by whose papers the atrocious 
projects of the Khan against all Persia, 
were detected. They had themselves 



168 

seen him annihilate the Mongul gene- 
ral, and lay whole rows of the tigers 
at his feet. Had he ied them against 
a fiery volcano, or even against the 
raging sea, they would have followed 
him with confidence, and said, " Since 
he undertakes it, it must be possible ! " 

Solmar did, in fact, arrive at his 
post, with his 10,000 men, two clays 
earlier than the grand-vizier had ex- 
pected and required. And he arrived 
at the critical moment, 

It was not before the Monguls were 
already annihilated, that the Osmans 
received intelligence that a Avar had 
broken out between them and the Per- 
sians. The grand-vizier of the Osmans, 
Ismael, caused splendid fire-works to 
be exhibited in his camp, to testify 
his joy at the intelligence; and the 
day following, summoned all the ge- 
nerals to a council of war. They re- 



169 

solved to fall upon the enemy in the 
remotest corner of the south, while 
they thought he had still to contend 
against the most inveterate of foes in 
the north. 

" By the Prophet, I did not expect 
this! " said the grand-vizier with ex- 
pressions of delight, as he squeezed 
the hand of every member of the coun- 
cil. 

Ismael, therefore, proceeded at once 
towards the south, taking care to ex- 
cite as little disturbance as possible. 
Cosru, however, was already at his 
side, and planted himself in a favour- 
able position. He excited still less 
alarm than Ismael. The great differ- 
ence between the two grand-viziers 
was, that the one only saw, and that 
the other was only seen. Cosru, in 
order to render his enterprise decisive, 
rested on his arms till he should be 
i 



170 

re-inforced by 100,000 men, that is, 
10,000 men and Solmar. 

Solmar was on the point of announc- 
ing his arrival to Cosru, when a Jew- 
was introduced to him. 

" Long live the Shah of Persia!" 
said the Jew. Three nights since, the 
Osman grand-vizier Xsmaei lodged in my 
house. Six Arabs of distinction came, 
and remained the whole night with 
him, and spoke with him alone. In 
the morning I was sent for, and was 
ordered to assist in weighing out gold 
to them. I heard them speak of 
50,000 Arabs, and of the fifth day, 
and of the heighths behind the camp of 
the right wing of the Osmans, On 
hearing this, I took two camels, and 
placed my wife and children on them ; 
and am now come, through cross- 
roads, to give intelligence of the alli- 
ance to a Persian general, Ismael 



171 

has fixed his camp, and is waiting for 
the Arabs. The fifth day, is the day 
after to-morrow. " 

Solmar reflected for a moment. He 
then fixed his eyes upon the Jew, and 
said: 

" Do you know the roads of the pro- 
vince ? " 

" General, I know all the roads and 
paths in the country/' 

" How far is the right wing of the 
army encamped from the main army ?" 

" General, at least the distance of a 
day's journey." 

4C Your wife and children are my 
hostages, and you are my conductor." 

Solmar wrote to the grand-vizier, 
Cosru, " We are arrived earlier than 
you commanded ; and we reached this 
spot at a lucky hour. We shall engage 
the enemy to-morrow, for our safety 
i 2 



172 

demands it. The bearer is acquainted 
with the particulars, " 

An officer was dispatched with this 
letter, and with verbal instructions ; 
and Solmar was employed in making 
his arrangements with the Jew till be- 
yond midnight. 

As the following day was drawing 
towards a close, the guards of the 
right wing of the Osmans saw clouds 
of dust arising, in every direction, 
upon the hills behind their camp, and 
at length clearly distinguished cavalry 
proceeding down them, Shouts of joy 
at the intelligence were sent forth from 
every quarter of the camp ; and, in 
every part, unarmed horsemen rode 
out to welcome their allies from the 
desert. But they were not the Arabs; 
and, even before the sun had entirely 
descended, Solmar was in possession 



173 

of the rich camp of the Osmans. One- 
third of the Osmans were slaughtered, 
one-third were taken prisoners, and 
one-third fled. The Jew was instantly 
dispatched on a dromedary to Cosru. 

Solmar gave orders that nothing 
should be altered in the form of the 
camp ; and the Persians looked, with 
anxiety, for the clouds of dust which 
were expected to arise from the hills 
which led towards the desert. At 
length, the Persian watch gave the ex- 
pected signal of the arrival of the ene- 
my. The Arabians, on approaching 
the camp lately occupied by their 
friends the Osmans, uttered tremen- 
dous shouts of joy ; but Solmar, with 
his Persians, rushed upon them ; and 
the Arabians, being taken by surprise, 
fled with precipitation. Those of them • 
who escaped towards the desert, gave 
to their fellows whom they met, such 



174 

a description of the swords of the Per- 
sians, and their leader, that the re- 
mainder of the mercenary allies of the 
Osmans thought it wiser to return back 
to the desert whence they came, than 
fulfil their engagements. 

The day after the defeat of the Arabs 
was a day of rest in the camp of the 
Persians. Solmar caused his prisoners 
to pass in review before him. They al- 
ready surpassed his army in numbers. 
WJiole companies of the fugitive Os- 
mans had returned in the morning, 
and surrendered themselves to the con- 
queror at discretion, that they might 
not perish for hunger in an unknown 
and desolated country, or be torn in 
pieces by wild beasts, or slaughter- 
ed by the enraged inhabitants. Solmar 
rf treated his prisoners with humanity. 
He did, indeed, put three to death 
with his own hand, who made a shew 



17o 

of resistance; but he also, with his 
own hand, helped to bind up the arm 
of another, which had been broken in 
his flight. 

The Jew had promised to return this 
day, and he kept his word. 

" On the day after to-morrow, at 
sun-rise," Cosru wrote, i: I will shew 
the grand-vizier Ismael that I am near 
him, which he is ignorant of at present ; 
and in the preceding night, shall strike 
an arm from his left wing. I confirm, 
by anticipation, whatever treaty you 
may make with their friends from the 
desert." 

" The friends from the desert are 
already disposed of," said Solmar to 
the collected officers of his army ; 
" but we ought now to be acquainted 
with the situation of the grand-vizief 
Ismael, and his army of Osmans. " 

Solmar caused his troops to draw 



176 

lots. One-fourth of the men remained 
to guard the prisoners and the camp, 
and with the other three-fourths he set 
off at midnight. The Jew led on the 
army, and the train passed towards the 
north. During the heat of the day, 
they reposed in a shady valley ; and, 
when they had crossed this valley, and 
ascended a woody hill, they who 
climbed upon the trees could distinctly 
behold the camp of the grand-vizier 
Ismael before them, and could even 
distinguish the larger tents of the 
enemy. 

Solmar immediately observed the 
roads into the plain, formed his plan 
for the following morning, and distri- 
buted his commands for the attack at 
sun-rise. But Solmar had approached 
too near to the OsmanS. 

The horses in the camp of the Os- 
mans neighed : the horses of the Per- 



177 

sians answered, in every part of their 
small army. The Persian horses had 
repeated this several times, when 
shouts were heard in the camp of the 
Osmans. These shouts increased ; 
and at length trumpets were heard. 
Solmar* s watch descended from the 
trees, and reported that the Osmans 
were riding in all directions, and that 
the tents began to move. 

Had Solmar been attacked at this 
moment, he must have been annihi- 
lated ; and if the grand-vizier Ismael 
had been capable of reflection, he 
would have risked every thing to at- 
tack him. 

" We must make the assault even 
to-day ■, " said Solmar, " or the camp 
will escape us. " In three hours' time, 
it was night; and there were 7 5 000 op- 
posed to more than 60,000. But Solmar 
had never projected an impossibility* 
i 5 



i/o 

The Persians rushed down from all the 
vallies, glens, roads, and paths of the 
woody hills, and unexpectedly appear- 
ed in long streamy lines in the plain 
below, and formed three bursting tor- 
rents over the trembling surface. 

Solmar and his Persians had erred. 
The Osmans had no suspicion of an 
enemy in their rear. They were aware 
only of the approach of Cosru in their 
front. For two hours before, some fu- 
gitives from the right wing, half dead 
with terror and fatigue, had reached 
the camp of the Osmans, and given 
intelligence that their right wing was 
annihilated. 

The thunder of the assailants on the 
plain, was answered by the affrighted 
cries of the attacked. Terror, which 
uplifted the arms of the Osmans to- 
wards heaven, at the same time fixed 
their feet to the earth from which they 



m 

endeavoured to flee. The central body 
of Persians rushed towards the loftiest 
tent. All who surrounded it were, in 
a few moments, prostrate on the earth. 
The aged vizier Ismael alone remained. 
Solmar's sword was uplifted. The un- 
armed old man presented his bare 
neck. " Hold ! " exclaimed Solmar. 
4 ^Hold ! " repeated the officers which 
were around him ; and this cry was 
echoed along the corps which Solmar 
conducted. 

" Father Ismael, I entreat you, give 
me your signet, " said the modest 
youth. 

" Persians," said Solmar aloud, "the 
aged Ismael stands under the protec- 
tion of your arms. " 

The Persian standards were planted 
around the rich tents of Ismael. Sol- 
mar sat beneath these tents, and Ismael 
sat beside him. 



180 

Solmar wrote to Cosru, " Ismael 
lives, and sends his signet to your 
highness. You are anxiously expect- 
ed." 

Solmar now heard some faint cries. 
They were the cries of female voices. 
He drew back a curtain, and three 
women of ravishing beauty, with dis- 
hevelled locks, and rent veils, threw 
themselves at his feet, and implored 
death from his hands. 

" What is it that you mean, fair la- 
dies ? ■? said he, raising them with to- 
kens of respect. " Ismael, your wives 
were never in greater securit}^. They 
stand under the protection of Persian 
conquerors." 

. " By Allah ! " said Ismael, as he 
wiped a tear from his eye, and grasped 
the youth with his hand, " this I 
should never have expected. " 

One hundred men, mounted oil a 



181 

hundred untired horses, with the Jew 
at their head, had broke through the 
astonished advanced guards. They 
found Cosru already on the road. 

Cosru arrived after midnight. The 
moon was then in the first quarter. 
When she was at the full, not an Os- 
man was in Persia ; and when the se- 
cond moon was at the full, the Persi- 
ans possessed the territory of the Os- 
mans as far as the Euphrates. 

The Sultan of the Osmans sent mes- 
sengers of peace, and Cosru appointed 
Solmar to negociate with them. Peace 
was concluded and signed. The Eu- 
phrates became the boundary of the 
Persian empire. All the prisoners and 
captives were restored; and the Sultan 
of the Osmans paid a contribution of 
2,000,000 pieces of gold, in order to 
re-build the desolated villages of Per- 



182 

si a, and raise fortresses on the Eu- 
phrates. 

Cosru hastened back to Ispahan. 
Solmar remained, as Generallissimo, at 
the Euphrates. The Shah, the sul- 
tana-mother, and the fair Biribi receiv- 
ed the grand-vizier with silent em- 
braces. 

" Cosru, " said the Shah at length* 
" Solmar merits a great reward. I 
shall entrust to his care my palace, my 
body-sruard, and my capital. Where 
Solmar stands on the watch, there I 
can sleep in safety." 

" Yes, dear Cosru," said the sul- 
tana-mother, " I beg your consent to 
this." 

The fair Biribi stood by, cast down 
her eyes, played with her fingers, and 
spake not a word. 

Solmar wrote in answer to the grand- 



1S3 

vizier, and earnestly entreated that the 
Shah of Persia would be pleased to let 
him remain at the Euphrates. 

" At all events/' said the Shah, " he 
must come and receive from my hands 
a standard of honour, " 

"An excellent thought, my son," 
said the sultana-mother ; " he must at 
least do that. " 

" And you, Biribi, what is your opi- 
nion ? " asked the Shah ; " you do not 
speak a word. " 

" My dear Shah/' said Biribi, "sup- 
pose we were to let him rest for a time. 
The journey is so immensely long; 
and he will not only have to travel hi- 
ther, he must also travel back again." 

"Biribi is in the right, " said the 
Shah ; " the good man ought to have 
rest. I would not, for all the world, 
undergo the fatigue he has endured, 



184 

But I have thought of something: Bi- 
ribi works the finest embroidery of any 
one in Persia. She shall embroider the 
flag of the standard, and he can in- 
dulge in repose till Biribi has finished 
her work. Besides, we will all write 
a letter to him. I will dictate, Biribi 
shall write, and my good mother shall 
seal, and write the superscription. He 
will not fail to come ; for I will put 
none of my omnipotence in the letter^ 
and nothing but reason. Sit down, 
Biribi : I know how to manage such 
matters." 

The fair Biribi sat down opposite to 
the Shah, and the Shah shut his eyes, 
and began to dictate. 

" Dear Solmar. We cannot live 
without seeing you." 

The fair Biribi now discovered that 
she had too little light opposite to the 



185 

Shah, and sat on one side of him, at a 
window. She wrote the words which 
the Shah had dictated. 

" We think of you day and night, 
and you must visit us." Biribi wrote. 
"We must thank you in person, and 
you shall hear from us when you are 
to come." Biribi wrote. " The Shah 
loves you ; his mother loves you ; w 
Biribi wrote — " and the sultana Biribi 
loves you ! " 

Biribi did not write ; for she was, 
just at that instant, under the neces- 
sity of holding up her pen to the light, 
in order to see where the threads in the 
nib were hanging ; and when the pen 
was wiped clean, the ink would not 
run : and besides all this, the light 
dazzled her eyes so much, that she 
was forced to hold a handkerchief to 
her face. 

66 Dear Shah," said she, at last, " do 



186 

you write something m the letter. He 
will be so glad to see your writing/' 

" This is errant folly," said the 
Shah. " If Hove him, you may love 
him too, I warrant. I know very well, 
that of all my wives, you alone are in- 
nocent ; but every thing must have its 
limits. — Give me the pen: I will 
write. yi 

The fair Biribi gave him the paper, 
and cast her eyes upon the ground. 

"See, now, you have absolutely 
spoiled the paper; and here are — one 
■ — two — ■ three — four — five wet spots 
on it. I must either wait till they are 
dry, or leave a blank in the wet places. 
Yes, that is what I will do ; and when 
he comes, I will tell him the fact, and 
we will all laugh at you ! " 

The Shah took the pen, and dictated 
to himself aloud. 

" And the sultana Biribi loves vou 



187 

also; but, though she is not ashamed of 
loving you, she is ashamed to write 
you so, herself.^ 

The Shah paused, put his right eibow 
on his writing desk, and covered his 
eyes with the palm of his hand. He 
reflected awhile, read the whole letter 
through, and then laid down his pen. 

" No," said he, " I will write no 
more to him ; and when a man has no- 
thing further to say, he does best to 
leave off. Come, dear mother, have 
the goodness to seal the letter, and di- 
rect it simply, ' To Solmar;' for, to 
men like him, we should give no title 
but their names. With others, it is 
quite the contrary.'* 

The sultana-mother put on the seal, 
and wrote the address ; and a special 
messenger w r as dispatched with it to 
the Euphrates. 



IS8 

" And now, good Biribi," said the 
Shah, " do you embroider me the flag; 
and be industrious, that we may see it 
soon. But which of us, now, can 
think of a fit inscription? Sleep upon 
it, both of you ; and I will do so 
too. " 

" Son 9 " said the sultana-mother, 
the next morning, " what shall be the 
inscription ? " 

" That is what I would learn of you, 
mother." 

" Shall it be long, or short ? " 

" It must contain every thing that 
it ought to contain ; and nothing that 
does not belong to it. " 

" Shall it be natural and simple ? " 

" Natural, to be sure ! and, above 
all, it must be rational; and by no 
means omnipotent. " 

"Well, then, my proposal is -'' 



189 

" Quick ; let us hear it." 

" To the Deliverer of Persia : Gra- 
titude and Love.'' 1 

The Shah sprang from his seat, and 
embraced his mother : he then ran to 
the fair Biribi, and embraced her also. 

" It is a fine thought," he exclaimed. 
" Yes, dear Biribi, you shall embroider 
in it, gratitude and love; there is reason 
in that, and not a word more than is 
true. Now, Biribi, begin this instant; 
and you may work by my side ; and if 
I can eive anv assistance to vou, I will 
doit with pleasure." 

Now, the fair Biribi began her labour 
on the very same day; but she did not 
permit the Shah to give her any assist- 
ance, and she embroidered in her own 
apartment. The Shah couid now see 
her but seldom ; and when at her work, 
the door was always locked. 

Her embroidery was completed ; and 



190 

it was, in truth, the finest piece of 
^work that had ever been exhibited in 
Persia. But she had strained her eyes 
so, in the completion of it, that their 
sparkling splendour was very sensibly 
dimmed by it ; and the Shah himself 
remarked, that she had become tired 
of her labour, for the last word was by 
no means so successfully worked as 
the others. 

Among all the virgins whom the 
Shah was accustomed to call his wives, 
— for real, genuine, regular wives, the 
Shah had not possessed for the last 
twenty years, — -the fair Biribi was 
most dear to him ; and she only for the 
sake of her sparkling eyes. He had 
purchased her ten years before, when 
eight years old ; and he affirmed, on 
every occasion since, that he should 
never again purchase a pair of brilliants 
of such perfect beauty and splendour. 



191 

It happened two years before, that, 
as Biribi was one day playing between 
the lofty walls of the palace, a little 
bird flew into her bosom, to escape 
the pursuit of a hawk, which had been 
pouncing at it; and after the enemy 
had been driven away, this little bird 
suffered itself to be fondled and caress- 
ed, and would not fly away again, 
when left at liberty. On this occasion, 
the eyes of Biribi expressed such joy 
at the fondness of the little bird, that 
the Shah on a sudden fell prostrate 
upon the earth, and thanked aloud the 
Creator of all things, for having made 
the world, 

" No," said he, as he returned into 
the palace to the sultana-mother and 
the three chief eunuchs, " No, truly, 
such a thing never happened to me 
before in all my life — such beams of 
light in the eyes of Biribi. And the 



192 

beams became sparkles, and the sparkles 
became flashes; and from the fire came 
clear water, and the water flashed as 
well as the fire ; and from the water 
came pearls, and the pearls shone like 
the water i But in the flashes of the 
fire, the water, and the* pearls, there 

was a something aye, children, 

1 could not sign a death-warrant to-day, 
though for the murder of my mother. 
— — And if I were to melt down all 
the diamonds that ever were dug out 
of the earth, into one stone, and melt 
down all the diamonds now under the 
earth, into another stone, they would 
altogether be nothing, compared to 
the eyes of Biribi, as she fondled the 
little bird. What I prayed, I cannot 
tell ; but I did pray, and I have now 
seen, with my own eyes, the Paradise 
of the great Prophet ! yy 
Prom that day, the Shah had loved 



193 

the fair Biribi like his dearest daughter, 
and never suffered her to be absent 
from him. Every one of her petitions 
was granted ; and she made many, but 
always for others, never for herself. 
Yet no bird had ever after flown into 
her bosom, nor had the Shah ever 
since beheld so distinctly the Paradise 
of the great Prophet ! 

" My dear Biribi," said he, as he 
took the embroidered standard from 
her, " if you love me, you will make 
no more embroidery during the next 
half year, that your poor eyes may 
have time to recover. Promise me 
this. » 

She gave him her hand to it, as the 
messenger was announced who was 
returned from the Euphrates. He 
delivered Solmar's answer to the Shah., 
who read aloud — 

" Sire ! thy slave wears thy writing 



194 

on his heart; and he has covered every 
spot of the sacred paper with a thou- 
sand kisses. Thy slave has been sum- 
moned to the grand-vizier Cosru, to 
receive commands concerning the main- 
tenance of the province on the Eu- 
phrates ; and he will lay himself at thy 
feet on the last day of thi3 month. 
Long live the sublime sultana-mother! 
— Long live the sublime sultana Bi- 
ribi ! " 

"Ah, my dear Biribi, " said the 
Shah joyfully, 4; he comes the day 
after to-morrow. —Here it is — There ; 
you have all the letter yourself. " 

Biribi took the letter, and read, but 
so rapidly, that she did not see what 
she read ; and not seeing what she 
read, she was forced to begin again ; 
and because she was always beginning, 
she never came to the end. 

M Biribi, 35 exclaimed the Shah on a 



195 

sudden, " do not spoil the paper by 
squeezing it, but go to the window. — 
I see that a bird has flown into your 
bosom again/' 

A heavenly blush was now spread 
over the virgin cheeks of Biribi ; and 
the Shah sat out of breath, and with 
clasped hands. His head was gently 
inclined towards the left side, and the 
reflection from Biribi's eyes, and Bi- 
ribi's cheeks, illumined his whole 
countenance. Biribi sprang up, and 
the Shah could not utter a word to 
withhold her. 

"Holy Prophet ! " exclaimed the 
Shah, as he was in some measure come 
to himself, " thou affordest more than 
one foretaste of thy Paradise ; and this 
is more delightful than all the others.'* 

In the same retired apartment, in 
which, with bolted door, the standard 
was embroidered, Biribi now read the 
k 2 



196 

letter, for several hours successively ; 
and, however hard the letter was to 
read, it was nevertheless kindly treat- 
ed at last ; for it was several times 
pressed to the heart, and even, at 
length, carried to the lips of the sul- 
tana. Biribi then repaired to the win- 
dow ; but from it there was nothing to 
be seen but flowers, trees, birds, and 
the whole city of Ispahan. She seized 
the lute, ; but, in the first place, it was 
sadly out of tune ; and, in the second 
place, it made such a noise, that Bi- 
ribi could not play and indulge in her 
musings at the same time. She drew 
all the curtains of the apartment close, 
and threw herself, in the dusk of the 
evening, upon a sofa. 

It cannot be denied, the letter was 
written with politeness ; yet it surely 
was not necessary to place a sublime 
sultana Biribi by the side of a sublime 



197 

sultana-mother. The sultana-mother 
was full five-and-fifty years of age, and 
an epithet, by way of introduction, 
was no more than her due. Most as- 
suredly a distinction should have been 
made in the letter, between her and 
Biribi, and the sultana-mother had a 
right to be offended that there was 
none. It must be confessed, too, 
there was something uncouth in the 
concluding lines of the letter. The 
beginning, on the contrary — the be- 
ginning was very obliging. He wore 
the Shah's writing on his heart, and 
had covered every spot of the sacred 
paper — mind, the paper, not the writ- 
ing merely — with a thousand kisses. 
Beyond a doubt, the vacant spaces were 
not spared, on which the sultan could 
not write. And who knows but it 
might occur to the writer of this letter, 
that the little bird in the bird-ca°;c 



198 

was -not at all in fault, on account of 
the five wet spots. — It was absolutely 
necessary to reacLover the letter again. 

She arose to look for the letter, but 
it was vanished. It was not on the 
table ; it was not on the chair ; it was 
not behind the curtain. All the cup- 
boards and drawers, all the caskets 
and boxes were opened, but the letter 
was in none of them. Biribi's anxiety 
encreased every moment : at last, she 
recollected that this poor letter might 
possibly be fallen under the sofa. She 
bent down, — she went on one knee, — 
she heard a rustling, and the secret 
was betrayed ! 

Any noble Persian, says the oriental 
narrator at this spot, who has just 
completed a hundred noble achieve- 
ments, and, at the end of them, is 
allowed to rest his forehead and his 
closed-eyes on the place on which the 



199 

letter had rested, deems himself amply 
rewarded for all he has achieved ; and 
there is not, he adds, in the Paradise 
of the holy Prophet, a single spot on 
which mortals may more delightfully 
repose, after the sufferings of life, and 
the labour of great deeds. And the 
Persian — all this is said by the oriental 
narrator — and the Persian who does 
not instantly guess this spot, deserves 
never to be made acquainted with it ! 
Biribi was alarmed ; she blushed ; 
and, possibly fearing the letter might 
make some resistance, she let it remain 
where it lay. She sat down again ; 
she laid her face on both arms to cover 
her eyes ; and there she continued sit- 
ting, though night had drawn on, till 
she was roused to open the door to the 
good Shah, who had already knocked 
a dozen times, fearing some accident 
had happened to her. 



200 

Soimar's journey to Ispahan had 
been made known to the provinces 
through which he was to pass, by the 
grand-vizier himself; and Solmar found, 
at the end of his first day's journey, a 
letter from Cosru. 

" Solmar, 1 command you not to 
shun the thanks of a grateful people. 
The provinces have received no orders 
from me ; and when a people begin to 
render honour to great men, without 
being commanded, it is on the point of 
stimulating men to greatness ; and it 
is high treason against the state, through 
pride, to reject their homage. " 

Solmar had now as few attendants 
as when he proceeded to the frontiers 
against the Osmans, but he had no- 
thing to fear on his journey ; for the 
inhabitants of the provinces stood in 
rows on the high ways through which 
he rode, and the children were placed 



201 

on the shoulders of their fathers and 
. mothers ; and they, too, were part of 
his guard of honour.' 7 

Freedom and independence ! was the 
shout of the Persians who stood on the 
high roads ; and, Long live the Shalt 
of Persia, and his people! was the an- 
swer of Solmar. And when he had 
passed by, then the people told of the 
persons whom he had looked in the 
face ; and how courteously he bowed ; 
and how kindly he smiled on the chil- 
dren ; and how he was dressed ; and 
how his horse was prouder than him- 
self: and when all these things had 
been said again and again, circles were 
formed, and the people sang and 
danced. 

Solmar appeared before Ispahan. 
The way through the town to the pa- 
lace was strewed with flowers. The 
inhabitants, of both sexes, stood ia 
k 5 



their holyday clothes on each side of 
the streets. The silence which pre- 
vailed was that of admiration and awe. 

Solmar arrived at the inner court of 
the palace. The Shah, in his imperial 
garments, stood at the head of his 
body-guard, and held a standard in his 
hand. 

" Thanks to the saviour of Persia! " 
said the Shah, as he rode forward, and 
delivered the standard into the hand of 
Solmar. A white flag was seen to 
wave from the summit of the highest 
tower of the castle ; and at the same 
instant there arose, from the palace 
down to the city of Ispahan, and from 
the city of Ispahan up to the palace, 
shouts of joy, which made the very 
foundations of the hills to shake ; and 
the birds that were flying in the air 
above, felt the vibration from the shouts 
below, 



103 

%i Oh, Amatonda," whispered Sol- 
mar softly, during the exclamations of 
the populace, " Oh, Amatonda, wert 
but thou near me ! " 

Amatonda was not near him, but 
the fair Biribi was, though she herself 
knew not where ; for when the shouts 
of joy were uttered, she was behold- 
ing the scene from the palace window, 
and she sank down by the side of a fe- 
male slave, without sense or motion. 

" Solmar is fatigued from the jour- 
ney," said the Shah; "let him be 
conducted to his apartment. He shall 
be left to his repose to-day, and we 
will not intrude upon him." 

On the following day, Solmar was 
presented to the Shah, the sultana- 
mother, and the sultana Biribi. He 
entered, and fell prostrate upon the 

«arth. 

* Why so } n said the Shah ; " Now 



204 

I take this unkind. Arise, and em- 
brace us all, one after the other, and 
we will spend the day together like 
rational beings." 

Solmar arose, and embraced the 
Shah respectfully; and he embraced 
the sultana-mother respectfully ; and 
he then, still more respectfully, kissed 
the hand of the sultana Biribi. They 
sat in a circle. They asked questions, 
gave answers, and related histories; 
and, in the heat of conversation, did 
not remark, at least the Shah did not, 
that the sultana Biribi had retired. 

She ran into her apartments. She 
sprang from one to the other. She 
looked around her for living beings. 
Her heart beat high ; her eyes spar- 
kled ; she could scarcely breathe. She 
came to the apartment where some 
birds were flying at liberty, which she 
had, half a year before, found in a nest 



206 

without a mother, and had reared with 
some trouble. The birds all fluttered 
round her. 

" Have you heard it already }" said 
she. He embraced every one except 
myself — and he trembled, and his 
hand shook, and his lips quivered as 
he kissed my hand ; — but I trembled 
too — Yes, he embraced every one of 
them, but he did not embrace me. " 

The poor birds would have been 
glad to receive their daily provender. 
They were accustomed, not only 
to fly at liberty in the apartment of 
their mistress, but also to fetch their 
food from thence. But yesterday, Sol- 
mar arrived, and yesterday they found 
nothing; to-day, also, nothing had 
been left for them. They fluttered 
round her lips, they alighted on her 
hands, and pecked her fingers. At 
length they played the dun so intelli- 



206 

gibly, that their foster-mother under- 
stood them. She uttered a thousand 
reproaches against herself; and, to 
make amends, threw to her starving 
favourites at least as much food as they 
could consume in a fortnight. But 
then she toid them again and again, 
that she alone had not been embraced. 
At length she heard the voice of the 
Shah, who came to look for her. He 
comforted her ; and determined that 
Solmar should, by way of penance, sa- 
lute her three times instead of once. 

" No, my dear Shah," said Biribi, 
alarmed, " by the holy Prophet I con- 
jure you, say not a word to him. I am 
unspeakably happy, and you would only 
make me quite wretched. I am pleased 
with him ; and came only to give food 
to my little birds here." 

When the Shah saw that Biribi was 
dancing and jumping, and that her 



207 

eyes sparkled, he was contented ; and 
as soon as he returned to Solmar, it 
was agreed that they should write to 
each other, at least twice every month. 
After a few joyful days, Solmar de- 
parted ; and she, who had laboured to 
persuade herself that embraces meant 
nothing, remained still unembraced. 
But Solmar was somewhat more pen- 
sive when he returned to the Euphra- 
tes, than when he set out from thence, 
On the contrary, the fair Biribi conti- 
nued as spritely as ever. Neverthe- 
less, her eyes always sparkled more 
brilliantly on the days when a letter 
from Solmar arrived, or when she an- 
swered those letters, in the name of 
the Shah, than on any other day. The 
correspondence, besides, appeared to 
give all parties equal pleasure, and was 
therefore scrupulously kept up. In a 
short time, how 7 ever, the phrase, " the 



SOS . 

sublime sultana Biribi," was not to be 
met with in the letters, because it met 
with no encouragement ; and its place 
was supplied by " my fair friend Bi- 
ribi," to which no objection whatever 
was made. 

Sol mar was entreated by the Shah 
to be a mediator between him and the 
grand-vizier, that Cosru should remain 
at the helm of the Persian empire as 
long as he lived. 

" As affairs now stand," replied 
Cosru, to the great joy of *the Shah, 
" I must release the Shah from his 
promise ; and my duty compels me to 
remain at my post, as long as strength 
and permission are given me. Allah 
and our Prophet preserve the Shah ! " 

Cosru governed several years after- 
wards ; and, when he was found one 
evening lifeless at his writing-desk, the 
Persia which he left behind, was a 



209 

whole century different from the Persia 
he found, when he accepted the seal 
of government from the Shah ; and the 
Shah w T as adored by all his people. 

" Cosru is no more, and Solmar is 
grand-vizier." 

These few words, in the Shah's own 
hand, were received by Solmar, just 
as he was surveying the last of the new 
fortresses raised on the Euphrates. He 
did not answer : he came himself. 

" O Amatonda ! ,J said he, as he 
ascended the palace of Ispahan, " if 
thou mean to embrace me, eradicate 
first from my soul the image of my 
friend Biribi." 

Amatonda did not yet mean to em- 
brace him ; for, except the Shah and 
the sultana-mother, no one embraced 
him ; not even the sultana Biribi. 

The choice of the Shah met with 
the lively approbation of all Persia. 



210 

Solmar made no change in the system 
pursued by Cosru ; he merely con- 
tinued the work his predecessor had 
begun i The Persian empire had not. 
for centuries, been in greater repose, 
or more flourishing, or in higher 
honour, than at present ; yet no 
Amatonda appeared to embrace Sol- 
mar. 

Solmar had held the reigns of the 
Persian empire about fifteen months, 
when the good Shah was one day 
found dead in his cabinet, sitting with 
his diamonds around him. His eldest 
nephew, who could with difficulty 
read or write, was brought forth from 
a remote corner of the palace, to fill 
the throne of Persia. Immediately 
there was a new sultana-mother, new 
reigning sultanas, new chiefs of the 
eunuchs, new principles, and new 
views. There would also have been 



211 

a new grand-vizier immediately, but 
the people and army were still feared. 

A few days after trie death of the 
Shah, his mother suddenly died, and 
it was said, of grief. The fair Biribi 
also would have died of grief in a few 
days ; but the night before her death 
she disappeared, and no one knew a 
not even at court, whither she was 
gone. All her valuables, and two 
black eunuchs, had disappeared like- 
wise. They were the two black slaves 
who were by her side formerly, when 
she was so rejoiced at saving the little 
bird. The whole court were lost in 
wonder at this flight ; and the assem- 
bled privy-council were unanimously 
of opinion, that it would be cruel to 
obstruct the happiness of the young 
widow. 

On examining, for that express pur- 
pose, the chronicles of Persia, there 



212 

was not found, since the establishment 
of the empire, a single instance of a 
sultana who had fled with two black 
slaves. They had all taken with them 
some one of the body-guard, or a sturdy 
dervise at least. 

The news immediately ran through 
the city ; and Sol mar, who was soon 
informed of it, became pensive. He 
was absorbed in his reflections, with his 
eyes cast on the ground, when a cham- 
berlain from the palace was announced. 
The chamberlain delivered a precious 
jewel to Solmar, and a writing from 
the Shah, in which the services which 
Solmar had rendered to the Persian 
empire were warmly praised ; and, in 
the most gracious terms, he was con- 
firmed in his office. 

This writing was industriously pub- 
lished by the court through Ispahan, 
and all the people said Amen. But 



( l\5 

Solmar grew more pensive and sad than 
before ; and the experienced men of 
Ispahan, who were acquainted with 
the custom of oriental courts, said in 
their hearts, a sacrifice is in prepara- 
tion. In the mean while, the court 
did actually prepare splendid fire-works 
for the city of Ispahan. 

Every day the court sent the grand- 
vizier a new mandate to execute. All 
the mandates were most gracious ; but 
they were strangely intricate, and the 
last mandate usually contradicted all 
the foregoing. 

" No ; n said Solmar, as he perused 
the tenth mandate, " the magician 
has deceived me. Amatonda may 
embrace whom she pleases ! I will go 
to my brother Hassan, and help him 
to cultivate his fields," 

He drew his sword from its sheath, 
broke it in pieces, and sat down to 



214 

write. He humbly implored the Shah 
in his letter, to allow him to resign 
his high office, as he did not feel that 
he had strength sufficient to carry 
into effect the supreme will of his 
imperial majesty. 

The Shah waited three days before 
he answered ; for the fire-works were 
not ready. He was extremely afflicted 
at the unexpected solicitation of Sol- 
mar. He could not possibly dispense 
altogether with his further services ; 
and he accepted his resignation as 
grand-vizier, only on condition that he 
re-assumed the command in chief on 
the Euphrates, on which station he 
had already wrought such signal ser- 
vices. 

This gracious epistle was also made 
known through all Ispahan ; but, on 
this occasion, the people did not cry 
Amen. On the contrary, in the mar- 



916 

ket-places, and at the corners of the 
streets of Ispahan, the words, banish- 
ment, treachery ;, intrigue, evil -days, 
were heard, every instant repeated. 
Solmar was informed of this, and 
hastened his departure to the Eu- 
phrates ; but it was his fixed resolu- 
tion, after a few months, once more 
to solicit his discharge. 

On the evening after Solmar's de- 
parture, the splendid fire-works were 
exhibited ; and all Ispahan, for a week 
afterwards, had so much to relate of 
those who were killed, and those who 
were not killed from the explosion of 
the fire-works, that few had any time to 
think, none leisure to talk, of Solmar. 

But the warriors at Ispahan, who 
had fought with him against the Mon- 
guls, and against the Osmans, they 
still thought of him ; and as, in a short 
time, they did not merely think, but 



216 

now and then collected in small bodies 
together, and talked aloud of him also, 
the court, in its wisdom, saw that it 
was necessary to take measures accord- 
ingly. 

These measures were accordingly 
actually put in execution ; and more 
then twenty couriers had been already 
dispatched, about a fortnight before, 
with orders addressed to the different 
officers on the Euphrates, when one 
evening, by pure accident, a dispute 
arose in the inner court of the palace, 
close to the guard-house. The dispute 
led to a scuffle ; the scuffle to a riot ; 
and the riot to a general insurrection 
of all Ispahan. By break of day, a 
swift dromedary w 7 as taken from the 
stall of the murdered Shah, and a cou- 
rier dispatched, with orders to Solmar 
to repair instantly to Ispahan, and share 
the government with the new Shah. 



217 

The dromedary reached the Euphra- 
tes ; but, in spite of its extreme haste> 
it arrived just.eight-and-forty hours too 
late. Solmar had, by command of the 
court, proceeded in great haste to con- 
struct a fortified camp opposite to the 
desert ; the Arabs had discovered that 
his corps <was very small ; they had 
the day before suddenly fallen upon 
him : he had fought like a lion ; he 
had driven them back ; but, in the 
midst of a rash pursuit, his corps was 
attacked in the rear, by a detachment 
which lay in ambush for him ; and it 
cut to pieces. It was, indeed, remarked 
by some of the private soldiers, that 
the Arabs must have had the most 
precise intelligence of their situation, 
and that some of the Persian officers 
had retreated at the first onset. 

The new Shah, who was an half- 

L 



218 

brother of the murdered Shah, but a 
young man of a better character, put on 
mourning for Solmar ; and, without any 
command from the court, all Ispahan 
followed his example. All the orders 
issued by Solmar were declared to be 
still in force, and public affairs resumed 
the course which he had prescribed. 
Thus, the son of Bator governed Persia 
after his death. 

But Solmar was, properly speaking, 
not really dead ; he was only on a 
journey. The Arabs, who, after a 
dreadful combat with him, had dis- 
armed and bound him, were kind- 
hearted souls ; and, instead of hewing 
the fine handsome robust youth into 
four quarters, by way of punishment, 
they merely made money of him. They 
sold him on the third day, in the midst 
of the desert, to a caravan that was 



919 

crossing it ; and Solmar, with his new 
master, a Turk of distinction, found 
himself on the road to Smyrna. 

But Solmar did not behold Smyrna ; 
for, on the way, the Turk sold him to 
a Jew. The Jew sold him to a Chris- 
tian. The Christian sold him to a 
Dutchman. The Dutchman sold him 
to an Englishman ; and the English- 
man, when at Cairo, exchanged him 
for a pipe, with the Mameluke Bey 
Mustapha. 

The Mameluke Beys are accustomed 
every week to indulge in a few skir- 
mishes in the streets of the city; but 
they do this, not to disturb public re- 
pose, only to maintain it. Nor was 
there ever a school-boy injured by it, 
because school-boys are not tolerated 
in Cairo ; and as they have no school- 
boys, they never hear the least com- 
plaint concerning these skirmishes, 
l 2 



220 

They are, besides, the real fathers of 
the people throughout all Egypt ; and 
consider the wives and children, goods 
and chattels of the Egyptians, just as 
if they were their own property. 

Solmar had not been three hours in 
the house of the Bey Mustapha, before 
he was forced to stand, with his sword 
drawn, as centinel, before three heads 
which were lying on a table. The 
three heads were, those of his late 
master the Bey Mustapha himself, the 
Englishman, and the broker who had 
negociated the barter between them. 
The head of the Bey lay to the right, 
that of his friend to the left, and be- 
tween both heads lay the pipe, which 
had been promised to the centinel, as 
the reward for his keeping watch over 
them. 

This revolution had been occasioned 
by the following occurrences. The 



2%I 

Englishman had scarcely delivered up 
his slave, and received the pipe in ex- 
change, when, on a sudden, a loud 
tumult was heard in the street. The 
houses of the Beys are surrounded by 
lofty walls, and these are secured by 
strong gates. The Englishman sprang 
up, layed his pipe upon a table, and 
rushed out with Mustapha, to secure 
the gates. But the gates were already 
in the possession of others. The Bey 
Ibrahim, who had, a year before, been 
driven out of this house by the Bey 
Mustapha, and had, since that time, 
been conducting caravans in the desert, 
in order to accumulate money, and 
with that money purchase assistance, 
now forced his way into the court- 
yard, with a body of armed horsemen. 
He slew everyone who made resistance, 
and soon gained possession of his 
ancient residence. The heads of the 



222 

Bey Mustapha, and the Englishman, 
whom Ibrahim, in his impetuosity? 
mistook for a Bey, were brought in, 
and for the present Jaid upon the table 
on each side of the pipe. Ibrahim 
himself entered ; Solmar stood there 
unarmed. 

c; Who are you ? " said Ibrahim. 

" Sir," answered Solmar coolly, " at 
the very moment you came in, I had 
been exchanged for that pipe. My 
old master was he on the left hand, and 
my new one he on the right ; " point- 
ing at the same time to the heads on 
the table. 

The barbarian smiled, and, survey- 
ing Solmar from head to foot, replied, 
i4 Your head shall answer for those of 
your two late masters, and your reward 
for watching them shall be the pipe 
you were sold for. " 

Solmar was furnished with arms, by 



223 

Ibrahim's command, who went out to 
secure his conquest. 

Thus, the guardian -an gel of Persia, 
who, eight months ago, in the name 
of a good-hearted Shah who loved 
him, watched over the happiness of 
25,000,000 of men, who were daily 
singing hymns in his praise, was now, 
by command of a savage, watching 
over the gory heads of two cannibals ; 
and his wages were to be, the very 
pipe for which he had been sold to a 
Mameluke. 

" Holy Prophet ! " said Sol mar, 
^ thou sayst truly. Allah is imcru* 
tible; but he who has a pure conscience 
adores, and is resigned. " 

In an hour's time, Solmar was dis- 
charged from his office. Ibrahim, at- 
tended by a strong body of men, 
paraded through the principal quarters 
of the city. The two heads, raised 



224 

on lofty poles, entered into the pro- 
cession, but did not return with it, 
having been left behind, as the train 
for the last time passed by the borders 
of the Nile. The pipe Solmar took 
into his possession, as aipreservative 
against all human weaknesses ! 

On the following morning, Ibrahim, 
again accompanied by a numerous 
train of attendants, visited the assem- 
bled divan ; and the divan of the Ma- 
melukes being always on the side of 
the strongest, felt no scruple in ac- 
knowledging him as one of the govern- 
ing Beys, and confirming him in his 
office. As soon as Ibrahim returned, 
he caused Solmar to be brought before 
him. 

" Slave! what is your name?" asked 
Ibrahim. 

" My last master had not given me 
a name: The former called me gene- 



225 

rally Europa, and when he saluted me 
with his foot, he said, £ than dog/' " 

" You shall be called Ali. What 
do you understand ? " 

tc Sir, I can dig ditches, plant trees, 
and raise melons, onions, and arti- 
chokes. I have observed an empty 
spot in your court-yard, which is use- 
less. Leave it to my care, and it shall 
become a paradise/' 

" Ali," said Ibrahim, " I must 
spend a year in the desert. I prefer a 
garden to barrenness. You shall do 
what you please with the ground/' 

Ali examined the spot. It was 
first necessary to remove a wall that 
was half fallen down. Ali proposed 
this to his master, and solicited three 
assistants to assist him in the labour. 
Ibrahim promised him the assistants. 

The Bey had received intelligence, 
that Mustapha and his companions ex- 
l .5 



peeted wares from Suez, and he sent a 
party to intercept the camels. Three 
camels were actually brought in, and 
the conductors were brought in chains. 
They were instantly sent to All, to 
join him in his labour of pulling down 
the old wall in the court of the Bey. 

" Sir y " said Solmar, after a few 
weeks, " let the three slaves be dis- 
missed, and work with me yourself./ 7 

" Ali, " said Ibrahim, " I will work 
with you ; though I know not why I 
always do what you desire. " 

Ali and Ibrahim worked together? 
and, after three days, Ibrahim himself 
heard that the ground resounded as if 
it were hollow. They continued their 
labour, and, in a few days, Ibrahim 
became the richest Bey which Cairo 
had ever seen. The treasure in gold 
and silver, pearls and jewels, which 
Ibrahim and Solmar had found, was 



, 22? 

immense. The booty of a conquered 
province must have been deposited 
here. 

" But tell me, Ali," said Ibrahim 
in the evening, " why you desired 
that the other slaves should be dis- 
missed. " 

" Sir, what is not to be divulged, 
should be known by one only." 

" And if it had been divulged ? " 

" You would have been in danger." 

" But you are my slave ! - y 

" And therefore I must be concerned 
for your safety." 

Ibrahim was startled, looked at the 
slave, and walked backwards and for- 
wards with an air of meditation. 

" Listen to me ; I have an only 
daughter. — Will you marry her ? " 

" Sir, let me return to my native 
country." 



228 

rt My son-in-law will be my suc- 
cessor." 

" Let me return to my native coun- 
try. " 

" And all that I have will be his 
property. " 

" Sir, allow me to return into Per- 
sia." 

" If I do you a service, will you do 
me one ? " 

" Whatever is not wrong. " 

" My affairs are in disorder, that is 
wrong. You are a good manager, that 
is not wrong. " 

" Every one must discharge his ob- 
ligations." 

" Since, therefore, you have offered 
an affront to me, by refusing my only 
daughter, you shall take upon you the 
management of my affairs for two 
whole years from this day, and bring 



229 

them into order; and, at the end of 
that time, I will conduct you myself 
through the desert. Is this wrong, 
AH ? Will you consent to this }'" 
" With joy, Sir/ 5 said Solmar. 
Ibrahim drew off his ring, and put 
it on the finger of Solmar, thereby 
declaring him the overseer of his house- 
hold. 

" And I shall give you a thousand 
zechins ; and besides, you will arrange 
every thing at your pleasure." 
" And the garden, Sir?" 
" Shall be at your disposal." 
Ali kept his word ; for in two years 
time, the little wilderness within Ibra- 
him's court-yard was become a- para- 
dise. Ibrahim did not precisely keep 
his word, for he let him depart it is true, 
and accompanied him across the desart ; 
but, instead of a thousand zechins, 



230 

he gave him two beautiful horses, and 
four heavily-laden camels. 

When the caravan was about to de- 
part, to which Ibrahim had accompa- 
nied Solmar, he produced a casket, and 
said, — i 

" Ali, take this casket, and let it be 
my marriage-present to your bride. Let 
it remind her now and then of the name 
of Ibrahim, and that Ibrahim promises 
never more to injure mankind." 

Ali took the casket, w r iped his eyes, 
and embraced the Bey. 

" But, Ali, I do not give this to you 
for nothing. You shall pay me for it, 
and more than it is worth*" 

" What do you require, Ibrahim }" 

Big round tears rolled down the 
cheeks of the barbarian, and hung on 
his thick black beard. He could not 
speak, but fixed his eyes on the Per-^ 



231 

sian. At length he made an effort^ 
and spake. 

" Give me, " said he, " give me 
back the pipe which you wear at your 
belt. When I return home, I will 
touch my slaves with it, and they shall 
be free. " 

Ali took the pipe^ kissed it, pressed 
it to his bosom, kissed it again, and 
delivered it to the Bey. The barbarian 
hung the pipe round his neck, hastily 
turned round, mounted his horse, and, 
giving his reins to it, departed without 
uttering a word. 

The caravan reached the Euphrates 
with safety, and Solmar saw the Per- 
sian frontier before him which he him* 
self had formed. 

" And now to Beitulsalam," said 
he, having crossed the Persian river; 
and separating himself from his com* 



232 

panions, he and his attendants pro- 
ceeded in haste along the road. 

He had arrived within half a day^s 
jourae}^ from Beitulsalarn, and was on 
the point of leaving the house in which 
he had slept the last night, when two 
travellers, who had likewise slept in 
the same inn, stepped at the same time 
to the door. 

On a sudden, six hands were seen 
stretched out in the air, and three 
voices were heard at the same instant 
to exclaim, Holy Prophet ! Great Pro- 
phet ! Just Prophet ! 

These sounds proceeded from the 
ci-devant Governor of Persia, the ci- 
devant Governor of Indostan, and the 
ci-devant Governor of Cashmire. They 
were all on the road to Beitulsalam, 
and had all slept in the same house, 
without knowing any thing of each 
other. 



933 

After they had all expressed their 
astonishment, embraced each other a 
score times, and then been astonished 
over again ; after each had, in a few 
words, spoken of his past adventures, 
they pursued their journey to Beitul- 
salam. 

" Have you, too, failed of Amaton- 
da, my brothers?^ began Solmar, as 
they were on the road. 

" I am satisfied, brother, - answ :ved 
Murad, " and with pleasure renounce 
all claim to her. - 

" And your ring ?" 

" I have not even one of the thou- 
sand pieces into which I broke it, for 
they, all lie in the stream which flowed 
beneath my window/' 

44 And were you then the grand- 
vizier of Cash mi re ?" 

" Excuse me : the twelve grand- 



234 

viziers of Cashmire stood under my 
orders/' 

" Twelve grand -viziers ! And what 
had they to do?" 

<c Each governed for the term of a 
month. They bore severally the names 
of the twelve signs of the zodiac." 

" And what were you W 

" Your humble servant was the 
Great-Bear, and I governed without 
intermission." 

" The Great-Bear ! This is strange. " 

" With }^our permission, the esta- 
blishment has its use. The Sultans of 
Cashmire are at the same time Sove- 
reigns of the Great-Bear, and Com- 
manders of the zodiac ; but they have 
never been able to obtain possession of 
both. Now, in order to shew that 
they never renounced their just pre- 
tensions " 



935 

" All this may be very fine, brother. 
But how came you, who were a stran- 
ger, to form connections in Cashmire?" 
" My very first acquaintance I owed 
to one of my spurs. As I was cross- 
ing the market-place, it tore the gown 
of a well-dressed girl, who was carry- 
ing an elegant basket of millinery under 
her arm." 

M That was a sad accident, brother." 
" Quite the contrary, it was a happy 
one ; for, in the first place, the spur 
made a hole in her gown ; and in the 
second, the millinery fell into the 
dirt. " 

" Worse and worse, brother." 
" Better and better, I say, brother. 
The girl was a slave, and the millinery 
belonged to her mistress. I took the 
girl by the arm, kissed her hand, led 
her first to the great mercer's, and pur- 
chased two complete dresses for her, 



936 

and then went to the first milliner's, 
and bought five times as much milli* 
nery as fell into the dirt." 

" And what was the end of this h? 

" I kissed the hand of the slave once 
more, and she recommended me to her 
mistress, who was the favourite of a 
cook. The cook recommended me to 
his mistress, who was beloved by a do- 
mestic mufti. He recommended me 
to his lady, the wife of an upper se- 
cretary ; and he, to his mistress, the 
wife of the grand - vizier Aquarius. 
Aquarius introduced me to his brother- 
in-law, the grand-vizier Cancer. And 
as I, wherever I went, either broke 
looking glasses and china, or tore fine 
laces, I was invited to the first circles ; 
and the ladies, both married and single, 
were visibly attached to me. At the end 
of six years 1 was so fortunate, that the 
only daughter of the grand-vizier Virgo, 



237 

a girl of nineteen years of age, attached 
herself to me for life. She was so so- 
ciable, that she could not subsist an 
hour without a friend to advise and 
comfort her ; and she had so kind a 
heart, that she had already adopted as 
her own an infant of two years old." 

44 And your ring, brother?" 

" When I spake with any one of the 
zodiac, of villages desolated by tem- 
pests, or fields inundated by showers, 
my ring pricked me inwards." 

44 And why so ? " 

44 It was the property of my ring to 
prick me inwards when I spake too 
warmly, and outwards when I spake 
too coolly." 

44 And did you ever feel it on the 
outside ?" 

44 See, here is my finger, brother 9 
observe how hard it is ; for, whenever 
I spake with a sultana about virtue. 



238 

with a grand-vizier about sincerity, or 
with a girl of twenty about innocence, 
my ring would never endure it. And 
if I ever spake with women, whether 
they were twenty-five or ninety years 
of age, and pronounced the word re- 
spect, I could hardly help crying 
through pain. My ring permitted no- 
thing but adoration or secret jiames!" 

" And in this way you became 
Great-Bear ? " 

" Yes, with the help of two wag- 
goners." 

" Two waggoners ! By the great Pro- 
phet, Cashmire is a strange country. " 

" Small events, brother, generally 
lead to great ones. There was a fair in 
the capital ; and I was standing at the 
window, when two large waggons, 
each drawn by four horses, and filled 
with peasants of both sexes, in their 
best clothes, drove against each other, 



239 

and suddenly stopped. The waggon- 
ers alighted, took their whips in their 
hands, and kneeled to each other. 
" Brother/' said one of the waggoners, 
a I beg you will have the goodness to 
turn aside." u Brother," replied the 
other, " I entreat you not to make 
such a request." " Brother, you know 
my moderation. " " Brother, the 
whole world knows mine." " Bro- 
ther, I shall apply to legal remedies." 
** Brother, I shall have recourse to the 
law. " And now they both rose, and 
each ascending the other's waggon, 
began to lash the peasants, who were 
going to a dance, till they could not 
lift their arms through fatigue. Then 
they alighted from the waggons again, 
and knelt again to each other. " Bro- 
ther, it was never my intention to of- 
fend you." " Brother, my friendship 
for you was never interrupted for a 



240 

moment. They then arose, embraced, 
and then turned aside, and drove care- 
fully by each other. V 

" Brother, these are idle tales. " 
44 The hero of Persia is too great a 
man to let idle tales be told him. This 
fair was derived from China; and the 
waggoners of Cashmire had exercised 
the right of holding it, and of going 
to war with each other in the way de- 
scribed, from time immemorial. Un- 
fortunately, one of five eyes which 
had been put out by the whips of the 
waggoners, belonged to a peasant girl 
who was beloved by a captain of the 
body-guard ; therefore, in two hours* 
time, an insurrection of the body- 
guard took place, and the bodies of 
the two waggoners were immediately 
cast into x the river, but the whole body- 
guard themselves still continued in a 
state of mutiny, as they declared their 



lives to be in great peril. The Sultan, 
all the Sultanas, the Great-Bear, the 
Zodiac, and all the chief secretaries, 
sat three days and three nights, to dis- 
cover how the right of these waggoners 
might be rendered less dangerous. The 
Great-Bear made a speech one hour 
Jong ; the grand- viziers each made 
speeches of two hours length ; and the 
Sultanas spoke for six hours : even the 
Sultan spoke connectedly for several 
seconds on the subject ; and yet no- 
thing was settled ; and the body-guard 
declared they still stood in danger of 
their lives. Algol, my brother, had 
informed me, that, in Cashmire, the 
least spark of understanding was 
esteemed. Algol is a knave; but he 
understood Cashmire well. I took 
heart, appeared before the permanent 
diet, and proposed the law, that, in 
future, the waggoners should flog none 

M 



242 

but each other. In an instant the Sul- 
tan seized the Great-Bear, and kicked 
him out of the zodiac »<V 

" And you became Great-Bear ?" 

" And I became Great-Bear, and 
the body-guard peaceably dispersed/' 

" Did the sultanas take any share 
in the government ?" 

" There were seven reigning sul- 
tanas. Each of them governed the 
empire of Cashmire for one day of the 
week ; and each of them, once a week, 
worked with me in the cabinet. There 
was no rest any day, and I was never 
dismissed till midnight. It was some- 
what tedious to be Great-Bear of Cash- 
mire, but I was every night expecting 
the fairy Amatonda. Besides, I wor- 
shipped the sultanas, and they were 
ready to die a thousand deaths for me. 
At the bottom, however, we meant no 
harm to any one." 



^3 

^ And your wife, brother ? " 

44 My wife had ill health, and could 
not endure the air of the capital. She 
lived with a select party in the coun- 
try, or at a bathing place. Her adopt- 
ed child died, her father died, and she 
herself died at last. I lamented her 
death, for we had never quarrelled; 
and sire left me an handsome fortune/' 

" And then you solicited your dis- 
charge ? " 

44 You will excuse me : I received 
my discharge very unexpectedly, and 
that was owing to a pair of twins." 

44 A pair of twins ! " 

44 Yes, and of my own creation. 
Capricorn died suddenly. The Sul- 
tana of the Cavalry instantly demanded 
the post for her house-mufti, ancj the 
Sultan gave her his promise of it. The 
following day, the Sultana of the Ad- 
miralty demanded the same post for 
m 2 



244 

her butler ; and the Sultan, forgetting 
himself, promised it to her also. " 
" Admiralty ! In Cashmire, too ?" 
" Unquestionably, brother. We had 
a great pond, an island, a gondola, and 
a marine establishment.* I was sud- 
denly called to the Sultan, and I found 
him inconsolable. He told me, that 
the two sultanas were in a violent rage 
against him and each other ; the one 



* The satire on war, so ingeniously couched 
under the tale of the waggoners, is general, and 
needs no application. The joke on the Admiral 
of Cashmire, seems aimed at the court of Bava- 
ria, where there is an high-admiral to command 
over the ferry-boats of the Rhine. The disasters 
of war have recently reduced the occupier of the 
once mightiest throne in Europe, to a precisely 
similar condition. The Emperor of Austria 
will, nevertheless, doubtless, retain admirals to 
command over ferry-boats and trading schuyts. 
T. 



245 

asserting, that the first promise was 
binding; the other, that the last was 
the strongest. The Sultan implored 
me for this once to save his honour. I 
paused a few seconds, and then pro- 
posed to him to translate the grand- 
vizier Gemini into the post of Capri- 
com, and establish the house-mufti and 
the butler jointly to fulfil the station of 
the Twins. The Sultan sprang into 
my arms for joy ; and instantly com- 
manded the twelve new cannon, lately 
sent to him as a present by the Empe- 
ror of China, to be discharged three 
times, and to announce through the 
city, by the imperial heralds, the cre- 
ation he had just made. This took 
place accordingly ; but the governing- 
sultanas of Cashmire were never able 
to endure grand-viziers by halves. The 
next night, the two sultanas met to- 
gether 3 were reconciled, and joined in 



246 

league against the unfortunate coun- 
sellor. The following morning they 
appeared together before the Sultan, 
and represented to him, first, that in 
the divan there were only twelve sofas 
for the members of the zodiac ; second- 
ly, that the mufti and steward, being 
corpulent men, had scarcely room 
singly on the sofa of Gemini ; thirdly, 
that there were only twelve signs of 
the zodiac ; and fourthly, that as soon 
as the Sultan should have set up thir- 
teen sofas, the Emperor of China, and 
the other powers of the earth, would 
believe that he had renounced his claim 
to the zodiac. " That I will never 
do," exclaimed the Sultan. In fine, 
the heralds were sent around the city 
again, to command that, on pain of 
imprisonment, all persons should con- 
sider the yesterday's discharge of can- 
non as not having taken place, The 



two sultanas drew lots together. The 
butler became Great-Bear, and the 
mufti, Capricorn. The Capricorn of 
a day became Gemini once more ; and 
I, brother, was commanded to leave 
the city within three, and the empire 
within twelve days ! " 

" And you, brother, are going to 
take up your residence in Beitulsa- 
!am ? " 

i; My baggage is, with your leave, 
already on the road to Ispahan. I 
wished only to shew myself to my bro- 
ther Hassan, and enquire what had 
been the fate of you, my brothers. I 
am in affluence; and should die of 
ennui in a few weeks, in the solitude 
of Beitulsalam. " 

\l But our brother Selim does not 
speak a word," said Solmar, after a 
short pause ; " I'll wager he means to 
surprise us with a poem." 



248 

i; You are for once mistaken, dear 
Solmar ; for he who is about to an- 
nounce his bride and her parents at 
Beitulsalam, and has left them at only 
half a day's journey distance yy 

" Happy Selim, your bride ! Or do 
you speak, perhaps, of the poet's bride, 
immortality ?" 

" I speak of a real, actual bride ; one 
whom a man can clasp in his arms, and 
by whose arms he can be clasped again. 
And, were the great Prophet at this 
moment to step before me, holding in 
his right hand the promise of immor- 
tality, and in his left hand the consent 
of Tabuna, and say, ' Choose, my son ! ' 
I would fall at his feet, and say, ' Holy 
Prophet, withdraw your right hand, 
and give me your left.* " 

" Selim, tell me no more of Tabuna 
— or rather, do tell me of her. Does 
she then possess, what irresistibly 



249 

charms, pellucid eyes, which, with^ 
out shunning a beholder, display, un- 
veiled and without reserve, a soul full 
of innocence,j>eace, and benevolence?" 

" My dear Solmar, eyes 1 never once 
saw in my bride. She has, in the 
place of eyes, nothing but. two souls ; 
and he who knows one of these souls, 
knows the other also; and they are 
comprehended in a moment/ 5 

" Selim, give me your hand." 

Solmar and Selim clasped each 
other by the hand as they sat on their 
steeds. Murad rode twenty paces be- 
fore them, and kept playing with the 
folds of his garment. 

" Selim," began Solmar again, " tell 
me more about your bride. " 

" And have you a bride, too, Sol- 
mar ? " 

Solmar sighed, and continued his 
interrogatories, 

m 5 



25 

44 Tell me. How did you arrive at 
Agra ten years ago ? " 

44 Full gallop. " 

" And your first acquaintances 
were ?" 

" The court, and all the inhabitants 
of Agra. " 

" You wrote a poem, then ? " 

" Seventy-two capital poems in eight 
years. f5 

" Seventy-two capital poems ! * 3 

" And all, likewise, full gallop.'' 

" And with applause ? " 

" With unbounded applause. More 
especially the last four-and-twenty, in 
which I began to imitate my imitators." 

" Had you successful imitators?" 

" Some hundreds, for in Agra every 
body wrote poems, and I was very easy 
to imitate. " 

" And what did your poems treat of?" 

" Dear Solmar, I only wrote my 



poems ; I never read them! I do not 
suppose that they treated of any thing : 
for, in the first place, the magician 
had impressed upon me, that they 
should treat of nothing ; and secondly, 
they were most greedily devoured by 
all the gentlemen and ladies of Agra. 
Thus much I know, that the poems of 
my most successful imitators, whom, 
that I might not be left behind, I was 
at last obliged to imitate, resembled a 
large space into which the inhabitants 
of a town had thrown all their furni- 
ture and effects during a conflagration. 
This is called in Agra, beautiful dis- 
order ■, and rare genius. And no inha- 
bitant of Agra admires what is accord- 
ing to, but what is contrary to rule ! " 

" And after you had written seven- 
ty-two capital poems ? " 

" I became, on a sudden, grand-vi- 
zier, " 



%52 

"' Selim, I see you were always fond 
of galloping." 

" Aye, and this gallop I rode dur- 
ing the great eclipse of the sun, two 
years ago." 

" The galloping of poets was always 
peculiar." 

" All Agra was in deep despair. 
Some were wringing their hands, and 
others were on their knees. Some took 
poison, and others stabbed themselves. 
A dervise, who could, for twelve 
hours together, turn round in a circle 
on one leg, without being giddy, and 
who cured diseases by the touch of his 
magical girdle, had, some days before, 
prophesied that Agra would sink into 
the earth. The eclipse of the sun took 
place, and court and city were in de- 
spair. A few only were composed 
enough to resign themselves to their 
deplorable destiny. It was announced 



253 

to the grand Mogul, that I alone was 
not alarmed, and that I was sitting at 
an open window, near the palace, by 
twelve wax tapers, calmly writing a 
poem. I was instantly summoned 
away from my seventy-two poems to 
the palace of the grand Mogul ; and I 
promised that^ in three hours, the sun 
should be delivered from the great dra- 
gon. After a few minutes, the chief 
chamberlain brought me, on a golden 
dish, the Emperor of Mogul's seal \ 
and, on a silver dish, a silken cord. I 
stretched out my hand to the golden 
dish. After three hours, the sun was 
delivered from the dragon, the dervise 
was beheaded in the market-place of 
Agra, and his girdle burnt by the hang- 
man. The first decree which I issued 
was, that, in future, whoever proclaim- 
ed new prophecies, should be laid in 
irons ; and that whoever interpreted 



2,54 

old prophecies, should be declared a 
lunatic. And accordingly, I instantly 
appointed guardians to fifteen bramins 
of distinction." 

" And Amatonda?" 

" Algol was a deceiver; but Ama- 
tonda did appear." 

44 Appear in reality?" 

44 She shall this very day embrace 
you. " 

44 Selim, you are still a poet." 

44 I became so only since 1 went to 
the school of Amatonda." 

44 And how did you go to that 
school ?" 

44 In one of the walks which I took 
in disguise, to examine the weights 
and measures, &c, in the metropolis, 
I had lost myself in a remote part of 
the city, and no longer knew where I 
was. I was in the midst of gardens, 
and entered one of them to enquire my 



255 

way. On walking in, I saw no one 
but a beautiful young woman, sitting 
in a remote arbour. Her dress was 
very modest, but exceedingly elegant ; 
and she did not perceive me, for her 
eyes were fixed upon a book. The 
smile which was continually renewed 
on her cheek, was delightful, and ma- 
nifested the liveliest pleasure. I in- 
troduced myself as one who had lost 
his way, and I confessed that I had 
been for a short time contemplating 
her, as she sat absorbed in study. She 
w 7 as not in the least embarrassed, and 
continued the conversation as if w r e 
had known each other for years, 4 How 
delightful and sweet a poem is this, y 
said she, 4 which is ever changing, and 
is yet always the same ; which always 
promises what it does not perform, and 
performs what it does not promise, 
and yet always gives what the reader is 



256 

most thankful for. It has already 
thrown me into rapture these twenty 
times, and will delight me twenty 
times again. Such a poem is the more 
delightful, since the poet Selim, who is 
now ^rand-vizier, has> by his unhappy 
authority, set the unnatural and mon- 
strous on the throne! Selim, 5 added 
she, after a pause, ' has talents, few 
have so great as he has, and he could 
himself give us such poems if he chose ; 
but the incense which the inconside- 
rate people of Agra have scattered 
around him, conceals truth and nature 
from him, and he has no friend to 
counsel him. 5 c Yes, he has a friend, I 
exclaimed; for he lies at your feet.' " 

Solmar assured his brother of his 
hearty congratulations. 

" She was not in the least confound- 
ed at this intimation. * Who are you, 
charming creature?' I asked. 



957 

' The widow of a sick old man, 
whom I married three years ago, when 
I w r as sixteen years of age, out of obe- 
dience to my poor parents. He wanted 
in me nothing but a nurse and attend- 
ant ; and died about a year since, leav- 
ing me the mistress of his fortune. ' 

' And your name is ?'* 

' Tabuna. ' 

c And the poem you were reading? 5 

4 Is Mursa's poem on love.' 

' Mursa also lies at your feet, Ta- 
buna ! ' 

11 A blush now covered the before 
unmoved countenance of Tabuna. Her 
lips trembled, and she stammered. 
Then she suddenly laid her arm on my 
shoulder, bent herself forward, and, 
having imprinted three kisses on my 
lips, ran away. " 

" And the grand-vizier, Selim-Mur- 



" Knelt tor half an hour, without 
knowing that he was kneeling ! then 
arose, caused a goldsmith to melt down 
his golden pen, and sent the value re- 
ceived from the goldsmith, together 
with a hundred pieces -of gold, to the 
chief almoner of Agra. The Poem on 
Love I had written, hut not with my 
swift pen, some years before. It had 
a plan, and was polished. I sent it to 
a dealer in poems under the name of 
Mursa, but no one would read it. The 
man then sent a few pieces of gold to 
the chief licencer of poems, with a 
request that he would prohibit it. By 
this expedient, he sold all his copies in 
a few days, and gained a handsome 
sum by it. It was, notwithstanding, 
forgotten in a month ! " 

" But in what way did you leave 
your post ? " 

" Just as I entered it, in a gallop ! " 



259 

s< And the cause was?*' 

" The great dragon, and two of the 
most beautiful little feet in Agra ! " 

" I should have liked to witness the 
plot. " 

" First, I had commanded that the 
fable of the great dragon and the sun 
should be taught no longer in the 
schools of the empire. Secondly, I 
had said in my poem, that a small and 
beautifully-turned female foot belongs 
to the first beauties of creation. Before 
the appearance of my poem, no one 
could ever obtain a glimpse of a beau- 
tiful foot in all Agra; but, immediately 
afterwards, all the beautiful feet of the 
city were to be seen, by all who were 
curious ; and thus every one profited, 
as well those who had the art of seeing, 
as those who had the art of shewing 
what might be seen ! But more espe- 
cially the fair Corane rose prodigiously 



260 

m the eyes of the grand Mogul. Co- 
rane, as well as all his other wives, 
had hitherto been eclipsed by the beau- 
tiful Madina. My order banishing the 
great dragon, gave offence to the chief 
of the bramins, who stood in need of 
the great dragon ; and the intimation 
that beautiful little feet ought to be 
seen, did not please the proud Madina. 

But now, I think it would be 

well if we were to push on with our 
horses, that I may say, galloping I 
went out, and galloping I came back 
again. " * 



* The author having told the translator, that 
under the poet Seliin he meant to satirise the 
celebrated romance-writer Jean Paul, the reader, 
on taking leave of the copy in the tale, may 
perhaps be willing to know something more than 
the name of the original : a note concerning 
him is added at the end of the volume. 



261 

So saying, he clapped spurs to his 
horse. Solmar followed him ; and when 
they had overtaken Murad, they all 
three galloped together towards Bei- 
ttilsalam. 



262 



It was precisely on the two hundred 
and eighty-first day after the princess 
had left the great meadow, and the 
twelve villages were again filled with 
their inhabitants, that something occur- 
red to Hassan which had never occurred 
to him before. 

" It is the very father himself! " ex- 
claimed a gossip, who ran as fast as 
she could down the stairs. 

" Aye," cried another who followed 
her, " it is the very father to be sure, 
but it has its mother's own eyes!" 

Hassan was so startled at the intelli- 
gence, that he jumped up without 
saying a word, and bolting out of the 
house, and running into the high road, 
left Beitulsalam far behind him. They 
who met him affirmed, that he ran on 
without speaking a word to any one, or 



963 

looking whither he went, and that he 
now and then stopped J:o cut a caper or 
two in the air. After ah absence of two 
hours, he returned ; and sure the large 
rocking-horse which he brought with 
him, had never taken such leaps before. 
As little Hassan absolutely refused rid- 
ing out this morning, and would not 
utter a word to say whether he liked his 
own father, or even knew him, Hassan 
himself mounted it, and then set it up 
till Master Hassan might, at a future 
day, be disposed to take a journey on it. 
Ten years at length elapsed, and no 
one well knew how in the house of 
Hassan, from the day when there had 
been so much dancing on the great 
meadow. The time had been spent in 
singing and jumping, and digging and 
planting, and ploughing and " laender- 
ing, " and laughing, and sowing, and 
reaping. No one knew the fields of 



2b± 

Hassan. His oaks and his beeches, 
his chesnut and his fir woods grew up, 
as in emulation of each other ; and 
the fruit trees which Hassan had plant- 
ed, were not a little vain of their loaded 
branches. And whenever a sick man 
wanted a cordial, he sent at once to 
the handsome woman; and whoever 
wanted counsel, went to the handsome 
man; and whoever wanted a place, 
offered themselves to the handsome 
couple ; and the poor children who 
wanted to learn how to spin, or sew, 
or knit, with more than common dex- 
terity, they, during the last three years, 
came to the handsome Lilly, and by 
her they were taught for nothing, and 
they received the wool, worsted, and 
linen into the bargain. 

Now the handsome Lilly had, three 
years before, arrived late one evening, 
attended by two ugly blacks, and had 



965 

spoken in private with Hassan. Has- 
san then consulted with Amina, and 
from that time Lilly had remained with 
the handsome couple ; and the ugly 
blacks remained there too, and helped 
to plant trees. The beautiful Lilly 
had, for a whole year, wept now and 
then, but she gradually recovered her 
cheerfulness, and retained it. Has- 
san^ children loved her with all their 
hearts, and she loved them again. But 
the four boys and the four girls were 
beloved by the whole village, for good- 
ness sparkled in their roguish eyes ; 
and when allowed to romp as they 
pleased, no man could hear his own 
voice. And Lilly had, three days be- 
fore, made a present of a complete bri- 
dal bed to the eldest daughter, whose 
name was Amina, as she was then 
eight years of age ; and on the bridal 
bed there was not a stitch of the needle 

N 



266 

which had not been made by the beau- 
tiful Lilly. 

Now this very day ten years ago, a 
foreign princess had made a bridal bed 
in Beitulsalam ; and in the afternoon 
a dance was to take place on the great 
meadow, in commemoration of that 
event. The cadi and imam were in- 
vited, and all Beitulsalam too, and the 
musicians were not forgotten ; and 
Hassan's workmen were in their holy- 
day dress; and Hassan's elder children 
were forced to tell the younger every 
minute, how long it would be till after- 
noon. 

Hassan had, some years before, built 
a school-room, and from this room you 
could look into the fields, and upon the 
great meadow ; and the children this 
morning had no desire whatever to 
work, or learn their lessons, as they 
were invited to a dance in the after- 



267 

noon : and on a sudden, all the writing 
books and knitting pins, slates and 
wheels, were thrown on a heap toge- 
ther ; and all the children came in a 
tumult together, and the schoolmaster 
and schoolmistress came with them. 

" Hassan, open the gate-way. The 
bride -mother! — the musicians on 
horseback ! — the foreign princess ! " 

No one in Hassan's house could stir 
a step for very astonishment ; but the 
children, and the schoolmaster and 
schoolmistress, found a remedy, and 
the gate-way was opened to the prin- 
cess. She alighted, entered the house, 
embraced Hassan and Amina, and fa- 
ther Abuhissar, and also trie beautiful 
Lilly, without asking who she was. 
She kissed Hassan's children one after 
the other, and was never tired of kiss- 
ing them. 

" Is it not true, my princess ? I 
N 2 



263 

have kept my promise, you see, " said 
Hassan. 

C1 And I as well, Hassan ; for I am 
come to ask for a lodging with you. 
But 1 come again with music to-day, 
and I am again bride-mother." 

" Again bride-mother?" 

' ; Aye; and this time, two-fold." 

- And the bridal beds?" 

* ; Yes, my children ; one of the 
brides will bring her's with her, — we 
must manage for the other." 

Little Annua ran to Lilly, and whis- 
pered something in her ear. Lilly 
nodded her head in return. 

" Princess," said the little Amina, 
iC I will give you mine. I shall not 
want it yet." 

The princess, and Lilly, and the 
little Amina went away. Lilly yielded 
her apartment to the princess, and her- 
self put it in order; and while they 



269 

were so employed, three horsemen ar- 
rived in full gallop. They alighted 
and entered. What they said, no one 
could understand, for they and Hassan 
spake at the same time"; but everyone 
saw that Hassan sprang from the arms 
of one to the arms of another, and 
that when he had embraced them all, 
he began over again. At length he re- 
lated to them, that, ten years ago, a 
foreign princess had come and made 
his bridal bed for him, and that she 
was that day come to pay him a 
visit. 

The cadi and the imairr now entered^ 
and shortly afterwards the princess re- 
turned, and with her the beautiful 
Lilly ; and instantly one of the three 
horsemen looked with astonishment on 
Lilly, and she uttered a scream, and 
Solmar caught her in his arms. She 
soon came to herself, and looked, after 



270 

a tew minutes, as if one little bird after 
another had flown into her bosom ! 

" And do we meet at length for 
ever, my princess? 5 ' said Solmar. 

" For ever, " replied Biribi. " But 
when I laid aside my name, I chose to 
forget that i had ever been called a 
sultana. M 

" But if I were now to be the bride- 
mother, " said the princess. 

'•What then, my princess?" said 
s <jlmar. 

;t Then the bridegroom ought first 
to embrace the bride-mother, and hum- 
bly beg of her to make the bridal bed 
for him." 

Solmar sank on one knee, and kissed 
both her hands ; then he arose, em- 
braced her, and received three kisses 
on his lips. 

Selim the poet no sooner beheld this, 
than he sprang forward, and, without 



371 

ceremony, clasped the princess in his 
arms, and received what Solmar had 
received. 

Tabuna now appeared, and her pa- 
rents and the bridal bed with her. Se- 
lim saluted the bride as he passed by, 
kissed the camel which had the bridal 
bed, and then unpacked it, and car- 
ried it to the princess, and lost no time 
in doing it. 

And the cadi and the imam then 
fulfilled their functions ; and tidings 
were brought that the great meadow 
was occupied as it had been ten years 
before ; viz. the twelve villages, and all 
the inhabitants, and the old men, and 
the sucklings, and the three young la- 
dies, and cakes and wine ; and there 
were, besides, five circles of lanterns, 
one circle within the other I And they 
all repaired to the great meadow ; and 
the six-and-thirtv blew their horns ; 



272 

and the whole assembly danced tosre- 
ther the dance of the fairy Amatonda. 

As day brake, a splendid globe was 
seen in the air; and the globe became 
continually greater and more splendid; 
and when it had reached the great mea- 
dow, it burst, and an illuminated ship 
appeared on the green, which threw a 
glorious light on all the country round. 
And in the ship were seen twelve beau- 
tiful maidens, who let down from its 
sides, wheels and pencils, and hobby- 
horses, and ploughs, and all kinds of 
toys ; and on a sudden the princess 
stood in the ship, which shone more 
gloriously than before, and lifted her 
right hand ; and they all knelt down 
and were silent, while she said, in a 
voice which pierced every bosom — 

" Solmar, Selim, Hassan, no 
generous heart, no noble soul 
can lose the embrace of the 



273 

VAIRY AMATONDA. But BE YE, 

my children, industrious, and 
ye shall be joyful. honour 
the Shah. Obey the Laws. To- 
lerate NO DERVISE AMONG YOU, 

for he is a Thief. Tolerate 
no Croaker among you, for he 
is an Assassin ! " 

A peal of thunder confirmed the 
words of the fairy. Every one knelt, 
and every one was silent. Only the 
sucklings, who were awakened by the 
thunder, clapped their little hands for 
joy, as they saw the splendour in which 
the beautiful fairy departed. 

And all the people" obeyed the fairy 
Amatonda ; and the fairy Amatonda 
came every ten years successively to 
the great meadow at Beitulsalam. She 
brought music and innocent presents, 
but neither gold nor silver. And when 
they had all laender.ed till morning, she 
» 5 



2?4 

departed from , them, and all hearts 
spake, and all tongues exclaimed — 
Long live Amatonda ! And from hence- 
forth, throughout the country, when 
the friend meets his friend, the hus- 
band his consort, and the young man 
his mistress, they clasp each other by 
the hand, and say, Long live Ama- 
tonda ! Amatonda for ever I 



THE EN Do 



NOTE 

Referred to in Page 260, 

Jean Paul Friederick Rickter is one of the 
most voluminous and popular of the living Ger*> 
man authors, who has been frequentty, and 
most unmeritedly honoured by the appellation 
of the German Sterne. An attempt to draw a 
parallel between these writers, would end in a 
contrast. They agree in scarcely any thing but in 
being most strange, out-of-the-way, and whim- 
sical in the form and plan of their several works ; 
and if this be sufficient to suggest a comparison, 
Rabelais might well form a third in the history 
of modern literature. A general aim to unite 
pathos and humour, are, however, all they have 
in common ; for their pathos and humour are of 
a different character* 

Sterne excites our sensibility by appeals to our 
ordinary sympathies, and for that purpose ex- 
hibits representations of interesting portraits. — 
A maniac girl, a negro, a parent on a death-bed, 
a prisoner in a dungeon, &c, do not suppose in 
the reader a mind which, to accompany the au- 
thor, requires the stimulus of curiously-excited 



270 

feelings. Jean Paul rouses the fancy of trie 
readers, by exciting what may be called the ele- 
ments of moral feeling. He dwells on vague 
and vast objects. He is excessively fond of 
dreams and visions. He brings back the va- 
grant attention to thoughts of death and eter- 
nity, and the transcience of human enjoyments; 
and delights in the anticipation of feelings be- 
longing to a future state of existence. Nothing- 
can be more unlike Sterne than this. 

Sterne's humour is chastely characteristic. All 
that is excellent (and not merely queer and ex- 
travagant) is, in him, dramatic. It is the keep- 
ing that runs through the « Sentimental Jour- 
ney, * and the mixture of humour that qualifies 
the sensibility of Yorick, which has preserved 
that book from being nauseous and surfeiting. 
In like manner, those exquisite characters, My 
Father Shandy, My Uncle Toby, Trim, and 
Doctor Slop, justify the eccentricities of thought 
ascribed to them. The translator dares not af- 
firm that there is no humour in the characters 
of Jean Paul's novels^, but certainly his humour 
has a monotonous characters/and, in his various 
works, always reminds the reader of the author 
himself. But though Jean Paul generally passe? 



377 

for a humourist, it is chiefly by wit that he ha? 
gained himself his present celebrity. It is in 
the exuberance of this quality, and in the infi- 
nite variety of his knowledge, which is astonish- 
ing, that he surpasses Sterne; as well as iii the 
philosophic tendency of his works, and in the 
reach of his faculties ; for he is equally distin- 
guished by the profundity of his thought, and 
the wildness cf his fancy. He is, at the same 
time, utterly destitute of that exquisite simpli- 
city and grace of style, which certainly will give 
immortality to the fine passages in Sierne, and 
for a long time, at least, preserve from oblivion 
the trash so copiously mingled with them. 

Sterne has been translated, perhaps, into every 
polished language in Europe. Not one of the 
numerous works of Jean Paul will probably 
ever be read in any other than the German lan- 
guage, nor in that long survive the author. 
There have already been published several col- 
lections of his line things, [beauties^ as our ma- 
nufacturists term them,) and it is rather to be 
wished than expected, that a similar selection 
might be adapted to English readers, for what 
Englishman ever reacT" three of his books ? It 
is therefore to be apprehended, that as Jean, 



278 

Paul has been outrageously eulogised, so he will* 
hereafter, have less praise than he merits ; for, 
after all, he has talents, which excite a lively 
regret that they should not have been disciplined 
to the production of any one work which de- 
serves to live. In the celebrated ' Xenien,' 
Epigrams published by Goethe and Schiller in 
1797> there is one addressed to Jean Paul. — 
" Could you husband your riches but as well 
as others do their poverty, then you would in- 
deed deserve our admiration !" It is this exu- 
berance of matter, and the inability or disincli- 
nation to give form to it, which is the characte- 
ristic of Jean Paul. 

Like Sterne, he is frequently unintelligible, 
but in a very different way. Sterne alludes to 
one knows not, and cures not what; and leaves 
one in doubt whether the curtain he lets down 
conceals any thing or nothing : Jean Paul is 
constantly referring, without reserve, to subjects 
of human learning, which the reader is more or 
less frequently acquainted with, according to 
the extent of his own information. It is chiefly 
in the most strange and violent similies and 
metaphors, referring not merely to all the sci- 
ences which men in general are expected to 



279 

learn, but also to every branch of professional 
learning, such as ecclesiastical history and juris* 
prudence, medicine, and every kind of local 
knowledge, that he excites the astonishment, 
and often provokes the resentment of his read- 
ers ; yet, as these combinations are most whim- 
sical, and drawn together at the same instant 
from the most opposite sources, and as they 
allude, not only to " all the reading that is ne- 
ver read," but also to all the knowledge that is 
seldom known, the vanity of the reader is not so 
often wounded at the detection of his ignorance* 
as it may be gratified by the occasional disco- 
very of his own knowledge ; and the eulogist 
of Jean Paul commonly qualities his praise, by 
the confession, as is promised to Selim by Algol* 
that he does not understand him. But in this 
there is more of trick than genius. It was 
acutely observed to the translator by an excel* 
lent English critic of German literature, that 
it seemed to him as if Jean Paul's works were 
composed while the author was standing on the 
steps of a bookcase ; as if he opened his volumes 
promiscuously, and, having noted down some 
recondite fact of art or science, then sought for 
a moral analogy ; and, having collected a irom*> 



280 

ber of these materials, afterwards strung them 
together as he pleased ! A habit which Mr. 
Bays seems to have indulged in, for he says 
somewhere in tht: ' Rehearsal,' — " Egad, this 
would make a hue simile, if 1 k tew what to 
compare it to!" Jean Paul has made it his 
particular study to find out such resemblances, 
and owes halt' his fame to it. 

The magician, in his instructions to the poe- 
tical son of Bator, gives especial counsel as to 
the composition of a title page. This, if such 
an expression be allowable, is taken from ^he 
life. The following are a few specimens of Jean 
Paul's titles, viz. 

" Biumen-Frucht und Dornenstukke ; oder 
Ehestund, Tod, undHochzeit des arrnen Advo- 
cate n F. S. Siebenkas, im Reichmarktsflecken 
Kuhchnappel." 

That is, literally, " Thorn-Flower and Fruit- 
Pieces ; or Marrying, Matrimony, and Death of 
the poor C'ouncelior F. S. Sevencheese, in the 
Imperial Market-town of Snapcow. " 
¥ Hesperus, oder 45 Hundsposttagei " 
That is, " Hesperus, or 45 Dog-post-days. " 
" Jean Pauls Biographisehe Belustigungen 
unter den Gehirnschale einer Riesin. " 



281 

That is, " Jean Paul's Biographical Amuse- 
ments under the Pericranium of a She-Giant." 

Basta ! Nearly of such a description has the 
translator lately turned over more than thirty vo- 
lumes. Not all, however, are in any way narra- 
tive : some are purely didactic, viz. " Levana, 
or Theory of Education," " A System of Taste, 
or Aesthatik," (-as the Germans from the Greek 
have termed it,) &c. 

The works which pass among men of letters 
for the best of Jean Paul's writings, are his 
' Hesperus, ' * Titan, ' and ' Siebenkas, ' of 
which * Titan ' only seems intended to produce 
an effect by the story. The translator cannot 
venture to speak of any one, even of these, from 
his own knowledge ; nor will foreigners readily 
encounter the difficulties which stand in the way 
of a study of Jean Paul's writings, since, in 
addition to his other literary impertinences, he 
is an inventor of words ; and his style embraces 
all the idioms of an elevated poetic prose, of 
colloquial barbarisms, and even of provincial 
phrases. 

Dr. Johnson learnt Dutch in his old age, to 
try whether his faculties were still in their full 
vigour. A foreigner may, if he pleases, make 



2S2 

a trial of his knowledge of the German, by at- 
tempting to read Jean Paid. He needs not be 
mortified if he should chance to fail. 

The following fragments have been hastily 
selected from Jean Paul s writings, as a speci- 
men of his style, imagery, and turn of thought. 
This is, in general, an unfair manner of exhibit- 
ing an author, but no one has so little reason to 
complain of it as Jean Paul, for whatever his 
merits may be, he owes his fame only to the 
striking passages of his books, with little refe- 
rences to those higher qualities of a work of taste, 
which are ascertained by the contemplation of it 
as a whole. 



" Women and Spanish houses have many 
doors and few windows. It is easier to get into, 
than to look into their hearts. And as to girls ! 
I would rather attempt to guess at and pourtray 
ten mothers, than two daughters. " 



" The heart of a man who has a strong and 
vigorous mind, must, like a china jar, be, at 
first, turned too wide and big : in the furnace of 
the world it shrinks to its proper size. In like 
manner, I quarrel not with intolerance in. a 



283 

young man, but in a few years I insist upon ha- 
bits of tolerance. The one I consider as the 
hard, sour, stony fruit of a youthful, vigorous 
breast ; the other, as the same fruit ripened and 
mellowed by time. " 



" Nothing touches men more than beholding 
a reconciliation. Our weaknesses are not too 
dear a purchase for the hours of delight in which 
they are forgiven ; and the angel, who never 
feels anger, must envy the man who subdues it. 
When you forgive, the man who has wounded 
your breast is the sea-worm by which the mus- 
cle-shell is pierced, while you yourself fill up 
the aperture with a pearl. " 



" By heaven ! It is not worth while lament- 
ing our departure from a soil so parched and 
barren, and covered with weeds and nettles, as 
human life is ; which is, besides, short as an 
epigram, and with a sting at its end. A spirit 
above us throws us into life, and counts 70 or 
80, as we sometimes hurl a stone into a deep 
crater ; and then, after hearkening during some 
eighty beatings of his pulse, or years, hears us 
strike against the bottom — the grave. " 



984 

«' That for which men sacrifice their lives and 
fortunes, must be something loftier than both. 
The good man is not so valiant when he defends 
himself, as when he protects another ; the mo- 
ther is a coward on her own behalf, a heroine for 
her child. In short, it is for the nobler part of 
him, it is for virtue that man opens his veins, 
and offers up his spirit. The Christian martyr 
calls this virtue, faith ; the savage, honour ; 
the republican, liberty." 



k ' The inhabitants of Mount Parnassus care 
little for the laws of Mount Sinai. They are all 
heretics, and are only kept from playing off their 
epigrams against the ancient faith, by having 
the harp of Klopstock between their fingers. 
They love notning that belongs to the preacher 
of the place, except his daughters. Their epi- 
grams violate the eighth, and their other poems 
the sixth commandment. They have recourse 
to the names of the heathen gods, in order to 
escape a Christian chastisement of their offences. 
They load the sins of the old Adam upon little 
Cupid, and worship the Devil in the shape of^i 
fawn. " 



" The heart is infinitely and eternally new„ 
We may satiate ourselves on the highest truths 
and beauties which can be presented to our con- 
templation ; by frequency of enjoyment, their 
zest and charm may be taken away : but no 
noble action ever comes too often, or too iate ; 
nor does time itself reign over our moral charms 
and graces. This immutability, which is so 
strengthening to the soul, is raised not merely 
on the infinite nature of the free breast, but on 
this especial constitution of our nature, that it 
is only out of ourselves that we consider desert 
as a free grace and moral beauty, which we are 
to love ; for within ourselves, we recognise it 
merely as moral truth and moral necessity, which 
we perceive and approve of. " 



" The honour of a friend is a something so 
sacred, that scarcely any thing but his own con- 
fessioii of unworthiness justifies a doubt concern- 
ing it. But it is only the absolutely noble mind 
which can abstain from trying the tried friend; 
from believing, when the enemy of the friend 
accuses ; which blushes as at an unchaste 
thought, at the silent and transient suspicion 
which pollutes the pure image of his friend; 



2S6 

and finally, which, when doubt is no longer to 
be resisted, does not suffer that doubt to come 
into action, and would rather be guilty of im- 
providence, than incur an offence against the 
holy spirit in man. This tirm confidence it is 
easier to deserve from others, than ourselves to 
possess. " 



" If man were not immortal, no superior be- 
ing could be so : at least, he could not be recog- 
nised as such. The solitary God would be pre- 
sented in vain to the torpid sense and unperceiv- 
ing mind ; as, \\ ithout the atmosphere of the 
earth, the sun would glare from the firmament, 
and pierce the vaulted night, but it would not 
illuminate." 



*' Since heaven and earth are spread out so 
spaciously, why should the mind creep and 
cringe, and narrow itself?" 



H Man would be on this globe an idle toy, 
ashes and vapour, if he did not feel that he was 
so. O God ! in this feeling is the pledge of our 
immortality." 



.'37 



" It is not reason, that is, conscience, which 
makes us virtuous : reason is the wooden direct- 
ing post on the high road of duty, but it can 
neither bring us up to itself, nor force us forward 
on our journey. Reason has the legislative, not 
the executive power. The capacity of loving 
the commands of reason, the still greater, of 
obeying them, is a second conscience added to 
the first. As Kant cannot in words assign what 
it is that makes men bad, so that is not to be 
expressed in words, which raises men above, and 
rescues them from moral impurity." 



" I would gladly receive in exchange one 
moral, for ten metaphysical optimists : one who 
does not, like the caterpillar, feed on a single 
plant, but, like the butterfly, flutters over a 
whole flower-bed of pleasures ; who has not 
five, but a thousand senses — for women and 
heroes, sciences and frolics, tragedies and come- 
dies, nature and courts. There is a certain 
higher toleration which the peace of Westphalia 
does not give us, but a life purified by many 
years and much instruction. This toleration 
finds out the truth that lies in every sentiment, 
the beautiful in every kind of beauty, and hu- 
mour in every sport of fancy ; and does not con* 



288 

sider, either in men, nations, or books, diversi- 
ties and individuality of excellence as the ab- 
sence of it. We should be pleased not merely 
with the best, but with the good.'" 



" Every strong sensation and affection par- 
takes of the nature of insanity, and requires or 
raises a world of its own. A man may be equally 
angry that the clock has only, or already struck 
twelve. I beg^of every one, once at least in his 
life, to let his internal feelings speak out. He 
will be astonished at the extent of his wishes, 
which had been before but half expressed. Rage 
wishes that the whole human race had but a 
single neck ; love, a single heart ; melancholy, 
two lachrymal ducts; and pride, that it had 
only two bent knees." 



" The repose and indifference which we by 
effort acquire, are alone valuable. Man must 
have both the power of passion, and power over 
passion : he must be susceptible of the feelings . 
which he subdues. The overflowings of the will 
are like those streams which pollute the water 
in the wells. Take the stream away, and the 
well is dried up." 



Printed by Turner aod Harwood, St. John's Square, 
Clerkenwell, London, 



